WOMAN CRITICAL AFTER SETTING HERSELF ON FIRE IN HOUSE

A Cape Girardeau woman was in critical condition Monday night at a St. Louis hospital after apparently dousing herself with gasoline and setting herself afire. The fire ignited her bedroom.

Cape Girardeau police reported they received a 911 call from the woman at about 9 a.m. Monday when she told the dispatcher she was going to set herself on fire.

Police and firefighters responded to the woman's residence, a small house in the 500 block of Louis Street.

Next-door neighbor Randy Scott said he saw firefighters break windows to get inside the residence. Smoke trailed from the openings.

"I hadn't seen her for a couple of days," said Scott, 34. "I think she was in there with all the lights out."

Firefighters discovered the woman in the burning bedroom moaning in pain, said fire department battalion chief Paul Lufcy.

Firefighters used a water hose to contain the fire to the bedroom, he said. The rest of the house received smoke damage. The fire department estimated property damage at $5,000.

The woman was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital where she was listed in critical condition with second- and third-degree burns. She was then taken by Life Beat helicopter to St. John's Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis.

Animal-control officers reported they took a dog and cat from the house.