Kitchen fire causes commotion at Cape apartment building

A kitchen fire created some excitement Thursday evening for residents of an apartment building on North Lorimier Street.

Bobbie Mosley, a resident of the Lorimont House apartments at 235 N. Lorimier St., said she heard the fire alarm go off about 8:45 p.m. and saw heavy smoke coming from the apartment across the hall.

"I think it was a grease fire," she said. "... I just so happened to hear the alarm."

Everyone in the six-unit building escaped safely, Mosley said.

"I started telling them to get out, get out," she said. "The smoke was so black, I could barely see them. ... We got everybody out of the building, though."

Firetrucks were lined up along Lorimier Street from Broadway to the apartment building a block or so away, but Battalion Chief Mark Starnes of the Cape Girardeau Fire Department said the scene looked more exciting than it was.

"It looked very impressive when all the firetrucks pulled up," Starnes said.

All the residents were out of the building by the time firefighters arrived, and the damage was minimal, he said.

"Smoked it up pretty good is all," Starnes said.

He confirmed the fire started in the kitchen of one of the apartments.

"Something was left in the oven, and the oven was on," he said.

The fire was contained by 9 p.m.

Kyle Miller and his daughters, Taylynn, 2, and Adriana, 10 months old, sat on a lawn nearby, watching the firefighters work.

The fire alarm woke the sleeping family, Miller said.

"I heard the fire alarm going off, and I grabbed them," he said.

Adriana sat quietly on his lap, observing the action, as he tried to comfort a sobbing Taylynn.

"I think she's a little overwhelmed with all the commotion and the flashing lights," Miller said.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

235 N. Lorimier St., Cape Girardeau, MO