HOUSE BLAZE INJURES TENANT

A Cape Girardeau was in critical condition Wednesday night at Southeast Missouri Hospital after a fire at an apartment house at 719 N. West End Blvd.

Firefighters responded to the scene around 7:30 p.m. after a tenant called 911.

Cape Girardeau police officer Homer Markhart, one of the first arriving emergency personnel, plucked Craig Pearson from a mid-floor window.

"I kept telling him to come down, but he was disoriented," Markhart said. "Finally I just reached up and jerked him out."

Markhart said flames were coming out of the lower level below the window where Pearson was positioned.

"I thought I was going to get toasted," he said.

Pearson was trapped in his room after he noticed a sofa was on fire in the lower level of the house.

"I went down and saw the sofa was on fire so I went back up to my room to call 911," he said. "Then the heat and smoke were so strong that I couldn't get out. I went back to my room and came out the window."

Pearson had minor burns but didn't seek medical attention Wednesday night.

Firefighters Charles Johnson, David Scherer and Capt. Steve Besand pulled another tenant from the smoke-filled structure.

The unidentified tenant was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital after suffering smoke inhalation.

Several firefighters were treated at the scene for exhaustion.

George Stinson, a tenant on the mid level of the structure, said he unsuccessfully tried to put out the fire with a garden hose. He then fled the burning building with his wife, Anita.

Stinson will celebrate his 47th birthday on Sunday. But he is unsure where he will be living then, after his room was destroyed Wednesday.

"The police told us something about being able to stay one night in a motel," he said.

Stinson said he and his wife have no friends or family to stay with while they look for another place to live.

Birdie McCallister, the landlord, lived on the top level of the apartment house. She couldn't recall the name of the tenant taken to the hospital or exactly how many residents lived in the structure.

She said the tenant suffering from smoke inhalation moved into his room about a week ago. She said there were at least 10 people living in the apartment house.

Emergency crews couldn't account for all of the residents Wednesday night, but they were certain no other victims were in the structure.

At least three sleeping rooms were on the bottom floor of the building, and eight other sleeping rooms were on the mid level. Both levels had a common area for kitchen and bathroom facilities.

"This is atrocious," said Cape Girardeau Fire Chief Robert Ridgeway. "People come to council meetings and are concerned about infringing on rights, but when you have to carry a 300-pound man out a room where he shouldn't have been allowed to live.

"That's what we mean by code enforcement," he added.

Ridgeway said the building at 719 N. West End Blvd. wouldn't pass an inspection by a code official.

The fire also claimed other casualties. Three or four exotic birds were found dead inside the building.

Firefighters rescued two puppies from the lower level. The puppies were in the care of a Cape Girardeau veterinarian Wednesday night.

Officials Wednesday night didn't suspect foul play in the fire.