SCOTT CITY WOMAN'S HOUSE CATCHES FIRE

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- Firefighters from three departments continued to investigate the cause of a house fire Thursday night in Scott City.

No one was injured in the fire and the cause is unknown.

Firefighters from the Cape Girardeau and New Hamburg-Benton-Commerce departments responded to calls for mutual aid. The Scott City Fire Department issued the call shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday.

The fire was quickly brought under control. Once Cape Girardeau firefighters arrived around 9:15 p.m., the fire had been extinguished.

Sheila Gettings had just recently moved into the house in the 2600 block of Ellis Street in Scott City. She and her family have lived in the house for about four months, she said.

She and her children had been gone from the house Thursday and returned home to see smoke billowing from the structure.

Gettings said she attempted to enter the house but the smoke was too thick and smoke detectors were already sounding. "I told the kids to get back," she said.

The children ran to a neighbor's home across the street to call 911.

Gettings said she always makes sure that appliances are turned off when she leaves the house and couldn't imagine what might have started the fire. Shortly after firefighters arrived on scene, flames could be seen from the two-story building.