Condemned house burns down; summonses issued

A condemned building at 722 Giboney Ave. that was within 30 days of being demolished by the city burned down Monday morning. The man at the scene of the fire, alleged to be the owner of the building, was issued two summonses in connection with the fire.

According to Cape Girardeau police, David Paul Raines of 1010 Elm St. was issued a summons for burning without a permit and for burning before 10 a.m. Raines was at the scene when firefighters arrived.

Cape patrolman Jason Selzer said that Raines told the investigating officer he had been burning building material on the property at 7:45 a.m. and that the fire spread to the building.

A spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Planning Services Department said that according to the department's records the building was condemned in 2003 after a fire. The first inspection after the fire was Sept. 17. Planning Services held a final hearing on it July 21 and issued a notice to the owner stating that if the building was not demolished within 30 days the city would demolish it and bill him.

Some confusion surrounds who owns the property and whether the man issued the summons is actually the owner.

The planning office lists the owner of the property as Paul David Raines, who the office says is deceased. The police department said the summonses were issued to David Paul Raines, the man at the scene. The planning office said it had been sending correspondence about the structure to Eddie Raines at the Elm Street address, the spokesman said.

Assistant fire chief Mark Hasheider said that demolishing a building by burning is not allowed under city and state fire regulations.