Perryville man killed in mobile home fire

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Functioning smoke detectors could have prevented the death of a Perryville man killed Saturday by an early morning kitchen fire that apparently started while he was asleep, a firefighter said.

Phillip Roessler, 23, of 215 Hume St. in Perryville died of extensive heat and smoke inhalation, said Bill Jones, assistant police and fire chief.

A friend discovered Roessler's body about 7 p.m. Saturday, Jones said.

"When he knocked on the door, he did not get an answer," Jones said. "He tried looking in the window and discovered that the window was sooted up or smoked up, so he kicked in the front door."

Jones said Roessler was alone at the time of the fire, which broke out sometime after 1 a.m. Saturday, and there were no smoke detectors in the mobile home to wake him.

"It appears that he did wake up sometime in the process of this fire. It appears that he stood up in the superheated air and smoke and took one breath and immediately collapsed from that," Jones said. "Had there been a working smoke detector in the structure, things may have been different."

He said Roessler apparently fell asleep after putting something on the stove to cook. The food caught fire, igniting the kitchen cabinets and spreading across the ceiling before running out of oxygen, leaving no obvious signs of fire on the exterior of the residence, Jones said.

"All the windows and doors and everything was shut tight in the structure, and basically, the fire burned itself out after consuming the cabinetry and a small area of the ceiling," he said.

Jones said it is unusual but not unheard of for fire to break out in an airtight space and burn out before it has a chance to spread, but that type of blaze is extremely rare in mobile homes.

"Usually a mobile home is more easily compromised by fire than a stick-built structure," he said.

Jones dismissed rumors of a gas leak. He said firefighters had the gas and electricity shut off as a standard precaution, but there was no indication either utility had anything to do with the blaze.

He advised residents to install smoke detectors in bedrooms, hallways outside bedrooms, attics, basements and general living areas and change batteries at least twice a year. He also recommended installing carbon monoxide detectors on every floor except the attic and putting in a residential sprinkler system if possible.

"While we should be thinking safety all the time, many times, we don't, and it's cases like this that pop up and put that in our mind," Jones said. "[This] certainly isn't a thing we like to see happen, but even from bad things happening, sometimes safety lessons can be learned for everyone."

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

215 Hume St., Perryville, Mo.