GOOD HOPE STREET FIRE GUTS APARTMENT

Two Cape Girardeau firefighters were injured early Saturday when fire gutted the second floor apartment of a two-story brick house at 530 Good Hope. The fire was reported at 7:11 a.m.

Shortly before 9 a.m., Assistant Fire Chief Max Jauch was overcome by the intense heat inside the building and taken by ambulance to the St. Francis Medical Center.

Jauch was admitted for heat exhaustion but was dismissed later in the day. He did not return to duty on Saturday.

Firefighter Paul Breitenstein received minor burns on the face and neck. He was treated and returned to duty.

"It was like a steam sauna up there with all of our heavy turnout gear on," said Capt. Steve Besand. "It didn't take us long to knock it down, but once we got inside it was real hot. The building had brick walls and a tin roof that kept all of the heat inside."

Besand said the fire was of incendiary origin and is under investigation. There was no electrical service to the building at the time of the fire.

He said the fire had apparently burned for some time before it was discovered. When firefighters arrived, the entire second floor was involved in flames and smoke.

Besand said the fire apparently started near the center of the apartment, not far from a front window on the Good Hope side of the building.

The entire second floor was gutted. There was water damage to the first floor.

The vacant building is owned by Claude "Nip" Kelley. It was first used as an office for the Yellow Cab Company. Later, the Kelley Construction Company relocated its offices from William Street to the Good Hope building. Both offices are now located in the former Ford Groves building at Sprigg and Themis.