Veterans Home resident taken to hospital after fire in room

A fire in a room at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau sent the occupant to the hospital Saturday shortly after 6 p.m. The Cape Girardeau Fire Department received a report of a smoke alarm at the Veterans Home, but the call was upgraded when facility staff reported seeing flames coming from under the door of one of the rooms. One of the occupants’ sheets and pants had caught fire. Battalion chief Mark Starnes says the fire was put out with extinguishers before they arrived and was confined to a single room. A report says the resident suffered first- and second-degree burns on his left side. He was taken to Saint Francis Medical Center by ambulance.