Family loses everything in mobile home fire

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - A woman and her son escape unharmed after a local mobile home fire, but two pets died in the blaze. To add to the devastation, the homeowner lost all her belongings.

A mobile home was covered with ash within minutes. Flames engulfed the residence, leaving behind a trail of destruction and heartbreak.

“I was outside taking clothes off the line and my boyfriend was on the phone with his mom talking about the fires in Maui and DeRidder,” homeowner Crystal Daigle said. “And, my son came running out the door and just black smoke.”

Daigle has owned the home and the land for 13 years.

“I just can’t believe it happened so fast, it was just so fast. I had so much, I had my grandmother’s things, I had my pictures, my late husband’s band stuff, my children’s pictures, my mother’s things, my friends’ things that they have me hold for them, all my jewelry, all my clothes, all our uniforms, all his uniforms,” Daigle said.

Tragically, the fire claimed the lives of two kittens that were inside the mobile home at the time.

“I had two adult cats and five kittens and then there were two adolescent cats, two of the kittens didn’t make it,” Daigle said.

Because the home had been purchased at an auction, insurance does not cover fire.

“Because it was a repo trailer, because I bought it from somebody who’d bought it at auction I guess that it wouldn’t cover fire, it wouldn’t cover electrical, and it wouldn’t cover hurricane wind damage,” Daigle said. “But thank God the fire department got here fast. They got here, I don’t even think it was five minutes and they were here and they did an awesome job.”

A small flame can turn into a major fire in less than 30 seconds. As a reminder, make sure all of your home’s smoke detectors are in working order.

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