Power cord suspected in house fire

A family home at 415 E. Fifth St. in Maryville sustained moderate smoke damage Monday morning during a fire that Maryville Public Safety officials said started in the basement.

Firefighters and utility crews responded at 8:14 a.m. after a smoke alarm reportedly warned members of the Stephen Sybert family that there was a fire somewhere inside their ranch-style house.

MPS fired division supervisor Phil Rickabaugh said four of the five family members were home at the time of the blaze but were able to evacuate the structure along with several pets.

Crews arrived on the scene from the nearby fire station within minutes and had the fire under control by 8:30 a.m., Rickabaugh said.

No sure cause of the fire was determined, but the "point of origin" was a basket filled with clothes in a laundry area. The basket was was sitting on top of an extension cord plugged into both an exercise machine and a wall socket. Rickabaugh speculated the cord may have overheated.

In addition to smoke damage throughout the walk-out basement and street-level garage, Rickabaugh said the fire also caused some damage to the house's electrical system due to the blaze's proximity to a breaker box.