A fire that immersed an abandoned home on the Mississippi River batture at Paul Maillard Road, which sent smoke billowing throughout the West Bank of the parish, is turning into quite a mystery.
Luling Volunteer Fire Chief Barry Minnich said that an investigation has turned up no signs of arson and the department is still unsure about what exactly caused the fire.
“When we got there, the entire home was engulfed in flames and then collapsed,” Minnich said. “It was a total loss.”
Though the home was uninhabited, and has been for several years according to Minnich, the fire department is still trying to determine who owns the house, which was receiving utility services. No one was injured in the fire, and a cadaver-sniffing dog found only the remains of a pig, which Minnich said might have been slaughtered several days earlier.
A witness called the fire department at 4:48 p.m. on March 2 and reported seeing fire rising above the levee on the river side. During rush hour, firefighters had to close River Road at Paul Maillard Road for several hours because the nearest fire hydrant was across the highway on Paul Maillard.
The road was reopened shortly before 8 p.m., Minnich said.
Several people who drove past the incident in its early stages stopped and parked so that they could walk up to the levee and see the fire. Others, who happened to be riding bikes or walking on the levee, also hung around to watch the fire departments put out the blaze.
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