No injuries in Cape garage fire

An alarm system helped save a Cape Girardeau family's home from a fire that broke out early Tuesday morning in an attached garage, a Cape Girardeau firefighter said.

Battalion chief Brad Dillow said a monitored alarm system detected the fire at 2537 Bridle Path Court, so firefighters already were on their way by the time the homeowner discovered the blaze in the garage and called 911.

"Very, very well could have turned out a lot different than what it did," Dillow said in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon. "The alarm system made a huge difference."

All the occupants of the house were home at the time of the fire but escaped unharmed, according to a news release from the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

The first firefighters on the scene reported a large volume of fire in the garage, Dillow said.

"The houses in that area are very large," he said, and the flames easily could have spread into the attic, so firefighters upgraded the blaze to a two-alarm fire.

Crews knocked down the flames and kept the fire from spreading into the house, which had light to moderate smoke damage, Dillow said.

The fire -- which was not considered suspicious but remained under investigation Tuesday afternoon -- appeared to have started near one of the vehicles in the garage, he said.

"The fire definitely started in the garage area -- they believe in front or around one of the automobiles in the garage," Dillow said.

He did not know whether an electrical problem with the vehicle itself caused the fire.

"I'm not sure if they'll ever be able to pinpoint" the exact cause of the blaze, Dillow said.

Although the fire damage was confined to the garage, firefighters estimated the loss at $350,000, the release stated.

Dillow said most of that value came from the "very expensive" luxury cars that were in the garage at the time.

Eight off-duty firefighters and crews from the Jackson, East County and Scott City fire departments assisted, with Jackson helping Cape Girardeau firefighters at the scene and East County and Scott City covering the rest of the city, according to the release.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

2537 Bridle Path Court, Cape Girardeau, MO