A recent fire in a St. Rose subdivision has left an 18-year-old and her infant baby with no home and no belongings.
Ashley Thompson was sleeping when she awoke to smoke filling up her home on Kennedy Street around 6 a.m. She immediately grabbed her 1-year-old daughter and headed for the door.
“I started walking towards the front of the house and as I was walking, my nephew was walking to the back of the house to get us…we didn’t even see each other – that’s how thick the smoke was,” Thompson said.
By the time the family escaped the flames and called police, the house was consumed in fire.
“They lost everything,” said Tammi Paranco, Thompson’s mother. “For young kids that were just getting started, it’s just traumatic to them.”
Paranco said the family also lost everything from the baby’s first Christmas.
“It’s like a nightmare,” Paranco said.
Paul Hymel, fire chief at the St. Rose Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire. He and about 20 other fire fighters were on the scene and spent three hours containing the fire, Hymel said. He said the Red Cross also responded to the incident.
Hymel said the cause of the fire is undetermined, but an electrical problem in the home’s kitchen is suspected.
“The (home) was totally lost…they lost everything that they had,” Hymel said.
Five people were displaced as a result of the fire.
Furniture, clothing, family photos and more were burnt in the home while Thompson could do nothing except stand by and watch. Now the family is trying to recover from the tragic event.
“We’re still trying to get back up on our feet,” Thompson said.
Thompson’s family and the St. Rose fire station are collecting donations to help replace some of the items lost in the fire.
“We try to help everybody out if we can,” Hymel said. “If anybody wants to help these people out, they can contact the fire department and drop off donations any day between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.”
The St. Rose fire department is located at 123 St. Rose Ave. and can be reached at (504)467-9536.
Paranco is also accepting donations for her daughter; she can be reached at (504)201-1735.
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