RESIDENTS FLEE APARTMENT FIRE; THOUGH MANDATED BY CODE, NO SMOKE DETECTORS WERE APPARENT

A fire in a three-story apartment building in the central west end of Cape Girardeau early Wednesday injured at least five people, one seriously. At least three people were trapped in the smoke-filled building and had to be rescued by firefighters.

The building, one of a number of apartment buildings in an apartment complex located in the 100 block of Clark Street, near Central High School, was not equipped with smoke detectors, authorities said.

Brian K. Wilmath, 29, of 103 N. Clark, Apt. 204, was listed in serious condition at Southeast Missouri Hospital. He was suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. The fire started in Wilmath's apartment.

Four other people, two adults and two children, were treated at the scene by firefighter paramedics for smoke inhalation, but were not hospitalized.

The fire was reported at 5:29 a.m., after a resident in the third-floor apartment above Wilmath's discovered smoke and called the fire department.

Capt. Scott Altenthal, officer in charge at the fire scene, called for a second alarm at 5:33 a.m., shortly after fire engines from Fire Station Number One arrived and after firefighters learned of residents trapped on the second and third floors.

"There was heavy smoke coming from the far west end of the second and third floors of the building," Altenthal said. "We could see people leaning out the window ledges of their apart

ments trying to get away from the smoke that was coming up the second floor stairwell."

Altenthal, Firefighter Paul Breitenstein and Fire Inspector Tom Hinkebein assisted two adults and one child down fire department ladders from the second and third floors. Other tenants managed to flee to safety before firemen arrived and the smoke blocked the stairwells.

Wilmath was dragged from his burning, smoke-filled apartment before firefighters arrived by a friend who lives in an adjoining apartment building, Altenthal said.

Firefighter paramedics treated Wilmath at the scene for smoke inhalation and burns to the face, mouth and hands, but he refused to be transported to the hospital by ambulance, despite advice from paramedics that he seek medical attention.

The fire started in the bedroom where Wilmath was sleeping, authorities said, possibly from a lit cigarette that ignited the bedding and mattress. Altenthal said it took only a few minutes to put out the flames once firefighters got inside the burning apartment.

He said there was little danger of the fire spreading to other floors because each floor is made of cement. The outside walls are made of brick. Fire damage was confined to the bedroom. There was extensive heat and smoke damage to the rest of Wilmath's three-room apartment. Four other apartments in the building were damaged by smoke, but residents were allowed to return after the smoke was cleared from the building.

Altenthal said the real danger to residents was not fire, but smoke that would have been detected much earlier with smoke detectors.

Hinkebein speculated if the fire had occurred earlier in the morning, while most everyone was asleep, the outcome could have been more tragic. "Fortunately, the building was well constructed to prevent the spread of fire, and it happened at a time when someone was awake to notice the smoke," Hinkebein said.

Altenthal said lives could have been lost or more people seriously injured because there were no smoke detectors in the apartments, as required by the city building code.

"If the owner would install smoke detectors, he would have a very safe building. The smoke detectors would have alerted the residents and give them time to escape," said Altenthal.

The 1990 building code adopted by Cape Girardeau requires smoke detectors be installed in any residential structure that has three or more rental units, including apartment buildings, boarding houses, hotels and motels.

Hinkebein said there is no "grandfather" clause in the code.

"All multi-family dwellings, with more than two rental units, must have operating smoke detectors in each apartment unit," he explained. "The age of the building makes no difference. If it was constructed before the 1990 code was adopted, the owner or landlord must go back and equip each unit or apartment with a smoke detector."

Hinkebein said there are still many multi-family dwellings in the city without the required smoke detectors.

"We're trying to locate them and advise the landlord or building owner as soon as we become aware of them," he said. "We are getting a lot more compliance with the code as landlords and building owners realize the smoke detector requirement applies to them, but there are still buildings in town without them, as we found out Tuesday."

Hinkebein said renters who do not have a working smoke detector in their apartment should contact the landlord or building owner. If no action is taken within a reasonable amount of time, he said renters should contact the fire inspector's officer at Fire Station Number One, 334-3211.