One dead in Sulphur house fire
Published 8:37 am Wednesday, November 19, 2014
SULPHUR — A bedridden man died in a house fire at 118 Jim Pickens Road, north of Sulphur, on Tuesday night, authorities said.
Calcasieu Sheriff Tony Mancuso and Houston River Fire Department Chief Dean Lappe said officials tried to save the man, Shelton Vincent, 81, but were turned back by the fire.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, but the state Fire Marshal’s Office will conduct an investigation because a death was involved, Lappe said.
The house was engulfed by flames when he arrived, Lappe said. It took firefighters about 45 minutes to get the fire under control, and they were still dealing with hot spots about three hours later, he said.
“We have not been able to pinpoint the origin yet, but conditions on my arrival suggest it did start on the back side of the house,” Lappe said.
Emergency officials received the fire call at 5:34 p.m., and authorities responded at 5:40 p.m., officials said.
A deputy who was first to arrive tried to remove a window air conditioner to get Vincent out, but “he just couldn’t make it, he couldn’t get to him in time,” Mancuso said.
Firefighters from Ward 6, Sulphur and Westlake also responded to the blaze.
