HOUSE DAMAGED BY SUNDAY FIRE

Cape Girardeau firefighters battled an early morning blaze Sunday that caused extensive smoke damage to a home but caused no injuries.

Firefighters received a call at 4:36 a.m. that a home at 763 Cedar Lane had caught fire. A smoke detector in the home awakened the occupants.

When firefighters arrived on the scene six minutes later, the fire was brought under control quickly, said Mark Hasheider, a battalion chief with the department.

It appeared that the fire began in a back bedroom and likely was caused by a low-burning candle that had caught a chest of drawers on fire, he said. Several nearby items also caught fire.

No one was injured in the fire, although three people were inside the house at the time the fire started, Hasheider said. No identities were released.

One person had closed a bedroom door to keep the fire contained and was using extinguishing materials when firefighters arrived, he added.