Houma house fire kills 4 pets

The politics of patronage abounds in Wash., D.C.
July 15, 2009
July 17
July 17, 2009
The politics of patronage abounds in Wash., D.C.
July 15, 2009
July 17
July 17, 2009

A house fire in downtown Houma on Thursday morning left four pets dead and a quarter of the structure damaged.


The Houma Fire Department reported no human fatalities or injuries.


Firefighters were called to the home of Randy and Doris Martin, 1220 Lafayette St., around 8:55 a.m.

Wayne Melancon, a tenant of the Martins in one of the four apartments behind the home, called 911 after a stranger awoke him.


“I had just gotten off from work and went to sleep when somebody started pounding on the door and yelled the house was on fire,” Melancon explained. “I tried to use the garden hose, but that fire was too intense and moved too fast.”


An unidentified witness said before firefighters arrived, two men attempted to kick in the front door of the burning home, but the smoke bellowing out kept them from getting inside.

No one was at home when the fire started. The Martins had left for work – Randy, Terrebonne Parish Criminal Justice Complex education director, around 6:40 a.m., and Doris, Bryan McElroy CPA accountant, around 8:30.


By the time firefighters and the Martins arrived, flames extended to the exterior of the residence, according to Captain Eddie Berthelot.


Fire Inspector investigator Mike Millet said the cause of the blaze is still under investigation. He said the fire likely started in the living room.

“(My pets) would have been in there by the windowsill waiting for us to come home,” Doris Martin said. “They must have died almost instantly.”


Two dogs and two cats were killed from smoke inhalation – a 10-year-old toy poodle named Jacko, a 5-year-old shih tzu named Peanut, and sibling Himalayan cats named Brother and Sister.

“We rescued the cats after Hurricane Katrina,” Martin said. “They were in our backyard looking for shelter.”

Firefighters needed 15 minutes to knock down the flames and 30 minutes to completely extinguish the hotspots.

“I would say at least 25 percent of the home had fire damage,” Berthelot said. “The rest of the structure, heat and smoke damage.”

The Martins have lived at the residence since 1997. It has been in Randy’s family since it was built in the 1930s by his grandparents.

“I’m still in shock,” he said.” Seventy years of family memories gone just like that.”

Melancon, a former firefighter for the Houma and Village East Volunteer fire departments, wishes he could have done more to save the Martins’ home.

“If I hadn’t gone to sleep, I probably could have caught the fire before it got out of hand,” he said. “Once (a fire) gets that big, you can’t do anything with a garden hose to kill it.”

The Martins, married for 39 years, said they would live in one of the vacant apartments until their home is repaired.

“Nothing like starting over from scratch after 40 years,” Martin said. “I won’t be the same person without my animals. They engulfed my life.”

Houma house fire kills 4 pets