From the ashes of Sept. 8, 2015, Ursin Abbate set out to rebuild his life in Destrehan but nearly a year later it remains on hold in a dispute with Entergy.
It was about 4:37 a.m. when Abbate got the call at Shell in Norco where he works that his house was on fire. The Destrehan man rushed to the scene at 220 River Village Drive and found his house fully engulfed in flames.
“Everything burned,” he said. “The things I had in my house can’t be replaced.”
An angry Abbate blames the electricity company for the fire, which he said was caused by an exploding transformer. Due to his ongling dispute with the company, Abbate is currently sleeping on a couch in his cousin’s garage apartment in Norco.
He approached Entergy about the loss and the company asked him to list everything in the house, which he did. When it came time to review the items lost, he maintained the company “tried to nit pick me on items” or depreciate the value.
He took the company representative to see the cement slab that was once his house and treasures.
At this point, Abbate said he hired an attorney and filed a lawsuit.
“I don’t think I should be treated this way,” he added. “I feel like I have no respect for Entergy. When I do build a new home, I’m going to put solar panels on the roof.”According to Entergy spokeswoman Kacee Kirschvink, the company is aware one of its customers “suffered damage to their home resulting from a fire occurring on their property,” but declined to comment further at this time because “the matter remains under investigation and is currently the subject of litigation.”
Abbate said four neighbors told him they heard an explosion shortly before the fire then video footage from a neighbor’s security camera shows the exploding transformer apparently spitting hot or burning oil onto his garage that adjoined the house.
“It was making a loud popping sound,” he said of neighbors’ reports. “The girl living next door asked me what I was doing with fireworks at four in the morning. The transformer was blowing sparks and fire everywhere.”
Soon after the noise, neighbors told him the house was on fire.
“Oil goes from 300 degrees to 700 degrees, and then it blows oil through the side and it catches fire,” he said of the exploding transformer. “Oil landed on the top of my carport and garage, and then caught the asphalt shingles on fire.”
It’s a bitter turn for a man who said he’s been conscientious about safety, as well as sought to help others whenever he could and they came to his aid after the fire. The United Way of St. Charles and Catholic Charities, as well as members of the community, offered help and he thanked them all, but he didn’t expect to still be dealing with his loss a year later.
“I’m not happy with the way things have gone,” he said. “My life has been greatly inconvenienced. I can’t just go cook jambalaya. I lost the equipment in the fire. I want my normal life back.”
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