Cape Coral police investigating house fire that sent 3 to hospital, 1 with serious injuries

Three people had to flee a burning home in Cape Coral early Thursday.

The house, in the 2000 block of NW 21st Street, caught fire shortly after 4 a.m. The Cape Coral Fire Department was able to extinguish the fire by 5:27 a.m.

“Lee County EMS took care of the patients so all three of them did have to be transported and one by helicopter due to the burn injuries that they had sustained,” said Andrea Schuch with the Cape Coral Fire Department.

The home was damaged inside and out. One of its windows was still covered with hurricane shutters, closing off a potential exit. The department recommends keeping those off windows when they are no longer needed.

Firefighters had to cut open the garage door to get inside, Schuch said.

Crime scene investigators spent the day at the home trying to piece together what happened.

The cause of the fire is not obvious to firefighters. The Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations and the Cape Coral Police Department are investigating the fire.

“They’ll be able to take samples and see if there was anything amiss with the fire,” Schuch said.