Woman escapes unhurt from Cape house fire Monday

A Cape Girardeau house fire sparked by a cigarette gutted a living room Monday, but the home's resident escaped safely.

About $15,000 in damages were caused to the home at 515 Second St., according to a news release from the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

The department responded to the blaze at 3:30 p.m. and found its sole occupant outside. According to the resident, she fell asleep on the couch while smoking a cigarette, causing the blaze. The living room and its contents were destroyed, and smoke and heat damage were present throughout the home, battalion chief Steve Niswonger said. The only smoke detector in the home had no battery.

"She was fortunate she woke up," Niswonger said of the woman, stressing the importance of a working smoke detector with a charged battery. The woman was not injured.