Fire marshal releases initial findings of deadly fire

The Mexico Public Safety Department (MPSD) has some answers to what happened to cause a fire that killed one person, several pets and displaced several people.

MPSD responded to a call of a blaze at Jackson and Coal Streets near downtown in the early morning hours of Monday, Oct. 9. Just after 3 a.m. MPSD responders found a four-unit two-story apartment building on fire. Shelia Ball, 53, died in the fire.

MPSD announced on Wednesday the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s office through its investigation determined the fire started in the north portion of the apartment next to Ball’s. This area was a bedroom and bathroom. A resident of that apartment reported being in the bedroom with another person prior to leaving for about a half hour. When the resident returned, their apartment was on fire.

The statement released by MPSD doesn’t give a specific cause of the fire but did say, “Careless disposal of smoking material cannot be ruled out as the cause of the fire.”