OWNER OF BURNED BUILDING SUSPECTS ELECTRICITY IS CAUSE

Fire investigators are unsure what caused Thursday's blaze that extensively damaged SEMO Heavy Industries, a Cape Girardeau manufacturing firm in the Town Plaza.

But the operator of the business, Bill Evans, said the cause likely was some type of electrical malfunction.

"I personally don't know, but there was no other source of ignition except electricity," Evans said. "We hadn't been running any plywood during the day, and the furnace hadn't been running."

He said the first firefighter to arrive on the scene reported a garage door opener was "throwing off a shower of sparks" in the building.

But Max Jauch, assistant chief and senior fire investigator, said the cause of the blaze remains officially "undetermined."

"We know the origin was in the back of the building in an area where they had some plywood stacked," he said. "But we haven't yet determined the cause."

Jauch confirmed Friday that SEMO Heavy Industries had been the subject of possible fire code violations in the past related to a "home-made, wood-burning furnace" in the building. But, he said, Thursday's fire was unrelated to the furnace.

"The origin of the fire was in the northeast corner of the building, not where the wood stove was," Jauch said. "Any fire code complaints we dealt with stemmed from that.

"What happens is somebody will see smoke coming from the building, and when the fire department checks it out they find the guy was burning wood in the furnace."

Jauch said fire department personnel were working with Evans to bring the furnace up to fire code standards.

Evans said the wood furnace hadn't been used at all Thursday. "The door was open and there were not any ashes in it at all," he added.

Evans said he and co-workers had spent the day sweeping and cleaning the building and had left about 30 minutes before the fire was reported. "I'm just really very thankful no one was injured," he added.

SEMO Heavy Industries is situated in a warehouse at 2143 Independence, which also houses several other businesses.

The building has been owned since 1986 by Spartech Plastics, and contained manufacturing and fabricating equipment, two forklifts and three boats.

SEMO Heavy Industries, which supplies wooden spools for the plastics market, was leasing six of the building's bays. John Ford Construction Co., and Mack McKinnis also leased storage space in the building.

It took firefighters about an hour to bring the blaze under control and to keep fire from spreading to a strip of businesses on the building's east side.

Businesses in the strip threatened by the fire were Brothers Lounge, Eurotan, Hairport, Shear Class, Tom Ward Hair Styling and Associated Clinical Services.

Evans said Saturday that he had inadequate insurance to cover the loss.

"We had nowhere near enough insurance," he said. "We had about enough to insure the plywood, but I guess we'll lose about $100,000.

"It looks like two or three machines were destroyed and there were a half dozen others that had wiring melted, or screwed up," he said. "The fabricating shop did not suffer total loss, but the office was burned."

Evans said he had lined up a realtor, who's seeking a new location for the business; a contractor, who will "shore up" the building until he can remove the equipment; and companies to test the equipment to determine if it's salvageable.

"Our suppliers are ready to give us whatever we need to get back in production," he said. "I would guess we're probably two weeks away from starting production for Spartech, and probably a month for Allen Wire Co."

Evans and Jauch both insisted that people stay clear of the site.

"It's extremely dangerous for sightseers to go near the building," said Evans. "The walls or roof may cave in, and there are a number of electrical components that still hold a charge and could cause injury or death."

Jauch said police will continue to secure the area. He said he was uncertain how soon the department would issue a finding as to the fire's cause.