Abandoned Lafayette Home on Eleventh Street Devoured by Flames

Multiple people driving down the South East Evangeline Thruway at around 3:30 Sunday morning saw trouble near Eleventh Street.  Many of the witnesses called in when they saw flames destroying a home on that street.

Lafayette Fire Department Spokesman and Fire Investigator Alton Trahan says that the home was completely destroyed by fire. He says they had massive resources to fight the blaze.

Some twenty-seven fire firefighters ended up responding to get the fire under control. Four pumpers, one of their ladder trucks, and support vehicles were brought in to make sure the fire was completely out.

Trahan says as they began to investigate the situation they learned the home was abandoned and there was evidence at the scene that squatters had been living at this home.

There were no electrical services at the address. In addition to that, Trahan says the home was in no way secured. The house received major damage.

While they are still working to figure out the exact cause of the fire, Trahan says they believe that likely there were several people living there unlawfully. In their attempt to stay warm in last night's terribly frigid conditions, they may have unintentionally done something that led to the house fire.

Saturday's high temperature for the day only reached 54 degrees, and the wind made the outside temperature feel even colder. The same thing happened last night, and the overnight low temperature was around 33 degrees.