DES MOINES, IOWA - Seven adults living in a small house in Des Moines escaped after fire broke out Friday morning. Several people were standing and sitting in the back yard while firefighters carried items out of the house. One woman was wrapped in a blanket.
A man told police he was sleeping in a bed in the basement when he was awakened and got out.
Des Moines Fire Inspector Brian O'Keefe tells WHO Radio News that the fire started in the basement, and there were multiple sources of ignition. He says firefighters found numerous extension cords and power strips in the basement. He says it is not clear who the occupants are, or why so many adults were in the small house.
The fire was called in at 8:20 a.m. at 1901 Martin Luther King Parkway, a little south of Hickman Road. A Des Moines Police Officer stood in the middle of MLK directing morning drive traffic while several fire trucks and other emergency vehicles blocked the northbound lanes at Franklin.
Shortly before 9:00 a.m. an animal control vehicle pulled up. O'Keefe confirms that a pet cat died in the fire. A dog that appeared to be a pit bull breed or pit-mix was taken to an upstairs room and survived the fire.
O'Keefe says there are no reports that any people were injured.