String of three suspicious fires early today brings total to 19 since April 2005

Federal, state and local fire investigators swarmed over the skelatal remains of a building at 203 S. Pacific St., collecting evidence in a suspcious fire that occurred overnight and resulted in one fatality.

The identity of the deceased is suspected, Sgt. Barry Hovis, spokesman for the police department, said, but is not being released until it can be confirmed.

An autopsy will be performed this afternoon in Farmington, Mo.

The victim was believed to a resident in the building. There were other residents that lived at the premises, but they were either not at home at the time, or got out safely, Hovis said.

The Pacific Street building is owned by former state Rep. Nathan Cooper, according to Cape Girardeau police reports.

Two additional fires occurred in the early morning hours on Tuesday, both of which investigators have determined were intentionally set, Hovis said.

One of the fires occurred at 1015 Bloomfield St., an apartment building.

According to one of the tenants in the building, who asked that his name be withheld because he feared retaliation, the fire began in a closet on the third floor, left side apartment.

"I woke up because I smelled smoke and heard the fire alarm going off," he said.

He said he stuck his head out his door and found the hallway thick with smoke. He also smelled an additional odor that he said he could only describe as very strong.

His neighbor told him the fire had started in his closet, and he was trying to put it out, he said.

The smell was so bad he couldn't sleep, so he called his father, and left for Rhodes 101 to get a soda. While they were out, his father advised him to call the fire department, he said.

He made the call around 4:15 a.m., according to police reports.

A short while later, he reported finding a paint can and some gloves inside the dumpster on the premises, along with something that seemed like fabric of some sort burning on the ground nearby.

The second intentionally set fire occurred was reported less than a half an hour later at 511 S. Ellis St.

The latest cluster of suspicious fires comes at the tail end of a stream of blazes deemed suspicious, particulrly concentrated on the south side of town.

There have been a total of 19 suspicious fires in city limits since April of 2005, according to police reports.

Another fire, discovered over the weekend on South Benton Street, was much less severe, with the vacant home receiving only minor smoke damage, said Cape Girardeau Fire Marshal Mike Morgan.

Authorities aren't sure when the Benton Street fire happened, but Morgan said it could have been anytime in a period of two weeks while the owner was away. The fire was discovered when the owner checked the property over the weekend.

Morgan said somone had apparently been under the porch of the home, and the fire was definitely susupicious. But Morgan said no connection has been established between this fire and other recent suspicious fires, including the fatal fire this morning.

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