No injuries from house fire Friday morning

Cape Girardeau fire officials said no one was injured in a house fire at 611 North St. early Friday morning, but the residence sustained about $30,000 in damage.

Battalion chief Fred Vincel said neighbors telephoned 911 at about 3:30 a.m. reporting the blaze, which was heavily concentrated on the east side of the building's interior and exterior wall.

Vincel said firefighters brought the fire under control within a half-hour requiring use of the department's four engines and ladder truck.

Jackson and Scott City fire department personnel staffed Cape Girardeau fire stations on the east and west sides of the city while Cape firefighters battled the blaze.

Vincel said a subsequent investigation determined the fire was started on the first floor by an electric baseboard heater that ignited an adjacent sofa, spreading to the living room. The fire extended to the second and third floors of the frame house.

"The house is repairable," Vincel said. "There is smoke and water damage throughout and in the basement."

Fire damage extended to all three floors of the house due to the "balloon" structure of the house, he said.

"It's an older house without fire stops in between floors," he said. "So the walls act like a chimney."

It is unknown if the house had smoke detectors and whether they were in working order, he said.

No one was in the residence at the time of the fire, he said.

Vincel said people should use caution around space heaters, making sure they are turned off when they are not home and keeping combustibles away from heating equipment.