Bayou Cane Firemen Donate to Elderly Couple After Fire

Three firefighters from the Bayou Cane Fire Protection District donated essential supplies to an elderly couple that lost everything in a horrific fire on Sunday afternoon. On February 28,  a crew responded to a reported vehicle fire in the 1700 block of Park Avenue in Houma.

Bayou Cane Fire Fire Chief Ken Himel said the incident was dispatched as a vehicular fire, but once arriving at the scene, firefighters discovered a camper trailer owned by an elderly couple engulfed in flames. “It was dispatched as a vehicle fire, and when our crew made it to the scene they saw that it was a camper that the couple was trying to refurbish,” said Himel. “The propane tank that runs the camper trailer ruptured causing an explosion, but they were able to put the fire out quickly.”

The firemen successfully contained the fire within 20 minutes of their arrival. The couple escaped the area safely with most of their pets, however, a few of their cats remain unaccounted for. Himel said at the time of the fire the couple was using a portable generator for power which was determined to be the cause of the fire following the investigation. “They heard the generator from their tent and thought it was running out of gas,” Himel added. “The husband exited the tent to check on the generator and realized the entire front of the camper was on fire.”

Due to the generator being in close proximity to the trailer, the camper tent was destroyed, leaving the couple with no place to stay and total loss of their personal belongings. When returning to the scene of the fire for a follow-up investigation, the crew of Tower 11 A shift found the couple searching through the rubble for their belongings and shared they were currently sleeping in their van. The firemen decided to come together to assist the couple until they received aid from the American Red Cross.

Captain Blake Nash, Firefighter Mathew Herbert, and Probationary Firefighter Daniel Blanchard returned to the scene, providing the couple with a tent, sleeping bags, water, and hygiene items. Captain Blake Nash said the act of kindness was an effort to raise the couples’ spirit following a devastating loss. “We went back the following day to assist in the investigation and we knew the couple really didn’t have much and were down on their luck,” said Nash. “We took it upon ourselves to do something nice for them and try to get their spirits back up, it feels good to be able to do that and now other people want to help.”