Saved by Sierra

While 87-year-old Jesse Smithers nodded off in an easy chair Thursday night, Sierra was becoming agitated.

The 4-year-old family dog began barking furiously. When Smithers awoke, smoke was filling the modest single-story home at 1125 Dorothy St. that he shared with his goddaughter, April Kinder, and her father, Rick Kinder.

Smithers went to the kitchen, where he saw a wall of flame rising toward the ceiling. Unable to combat the blaze, he went across the street to a neighbor's home to call 911.

If Sierra hadn't roused him, Smithers said, he might have died in that chair.

"I was just about a half-asleep. I was smelling smoke as I woke up and that dog was barking big time," Smithers said as Sierra gazed lovingly at the family gathered in front of their now burned-out home.

Rick and April Kinder left the house about 10:30 p.m. to visit an area convenience store, they said. When they returned, firefighters were trying to douse the flames.

Another dog and a cat were lost in the blaze, April Kinder said.

Cape Girardeau firefighters got the call at 10:51 p.m. They believe a candle left burning in the kitchen started the blaze, battalion chief Mike Morgan said. Windy conditions blew the fire from the kitchen, near the back of the house, to the front.

The exterior of the building was badly charred, with melted siding hanging in globs from the walls. Inside, almost nothing could be salvaged from the black mess.

Firefighters got the blaze under control in 10 to 15 minutes, Morgan said. They finished at the scene by 1 a.m., he said.

There was a candle in a glass in the kitchen, April said. She remembers leaving it burning when they went to the convenience store.

"When we came back, there was nothing but flames and smoke," Rick Kinder said.

By the time he was alerted to the fire, there was no way of telling what the candle had ignited, Smithers said. It could have fallen over, or something could have blown over the top from wind coming through open windows on the cool fall night.

Candles are a leading cause of accidental fires, Morgan said. They are becoming an increasing problem.

"Don't leave them unattended," Morgan said. "Keep the container free and clear of any kind of combustibles."

Rick Kinder grew up in the home, as did daughter did. He purchased the home from his mother and said he has worked hard to maintain it, recently replacing the siding and the windows.

A mill operator at Unimin in Tamms, Ill., Kinder said he went to the plant at 2 a.m. to fill out a vacation request to deal with the aftermath of the fire.

The home was insured, so Kinder isn't worried about having money to rebuild. The fire department estimated damage at $40,000. Insurance adjusters are coming today to make their assessment, he said.

The three will stay at a hotel for a few nights, then look for a place to set up temporary housekeeping, he said.

Sifting through the wreckage yielded one precious thing -- picture albums that belonged to Rick Kinder's mother. They are charred around the edges, but the memories are preserved.

"There's not a whole lot left," April Kinder said as she surveyed the home. "It is almost a total loss."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126