Apartment fire likely accidental, says marshal

Thursday's fire on Spanish Street in Cape Girardeau was most likely accidental, said city fire marshal Mike Morgan.

The fire destroyed the building at 225 Spanish St., and did some damage to 221 Spanish. It began in a second-floor bedroom. All the tests aren't back yet, Morgan said, but it appears that a smoldering cigarette may have caused the fire.

"We had tests conducted, and we even brought in a dog trained to sniff out accelerants," Morgan said. "He gave it a clean sweep."

The loss of four apartments at 225 Spanish and three at 221 left seven families homeless. Ron MacCubbin, director of the American Red Cross, said his agency is helping them.

The Salvation Army put some of the homeless families up in a motel the first night, MacCubbin said. Since then they have been scrambling to find housing.

The Red Cross works with fire victims and potential landlords to arrange a deposit on housing.

"There's housing dollars in the community for rent only," he said, "We can't put any out for deposits. We will work with the clients to pay it off in installments, or forego it altogether. It's a process."

The Red Cross also refers families to agencies that give them clothing and furniture, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society will help with beds. Nancy Duschell of Duschell Furniture donates used furniture she gets as a trade-in.

Most of the families displaced by the fire were couples. One couple, MacCubbin said, has two teenage children.

MacCubbin said he doesn't know how much the Red Cross will spend helping these families.

"It depends on the rents and what we have to do for these folks," he said. "We will be working with them until we get them all settled, whatever amount of time it takes."