Investigation continues into fatal fire

Investigators on Wednesday still were trying to determine the cause of a fatal fire on Big Bend Road.

James Stuart Weber was found dead Monday evening in a detached garage next to a single-family residence in the 1300 block of Big Bend Road.

Assistant chief Mark Hasheider of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department said emergency workers were called for a medical response about 5:15 p.m. Monday.

When they arrived, they discovered a small fire had occurred in the garage where Weber was found, but the fire -- which Hasheider said caused "very minimal damage" -- had burned itself out, and it was not clear when or how it started.

"Unfortunately, the fire itself does not give us any clues, so we would look to the coroner for time of death," he said.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton did not have an exact time of death Wednesday.

"I'd estimate probably two days," he said.

Weber's cause of death remains unknown, Clifton said, but toxicology and other results are pending and could take a few weeks to come back.

The fire would have been easy for passers-by to overlook, Hasheider said.

The damage was confined to the area of origin, he said, and given the time of year, if someone smelled smoke, he or she easily could have mistaken it for burning leaves.

"The fire and smoke could have been contained to the building, and unless you were very close in the vicinity and smelled something unusual, it very easily could've gone unnoticed," Hasheider said.

He said it is not uncommon for a fire to start and burn itself out before anyone discovers it, but such fires usually occur while no one is home and are reported after the occupants return.

"It is not an unusual occurrence. ... The tragedy of this one is that it is involving a death of an occupant," Hasheider said.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

1300 block of Big Bend Road, Cape Girardeau, MO