HOUMA, La. — The weekend fire that claimed the life of a man is being investigated as a 'suspicious' blaze as of Tuesday, the Louisiana State Fire Marshal said.
A house in the 200 block of Mahler Street in Houma burst into flames around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, fire officials said.
Four people were able to escape as the home, an apartment and a car burned, but 39-year-old Wayne Winter Jr., who lived in the upstairs unit, did not make it. Fire investigators found his lifeless body next to the burned out car.
The fire marshal’s office said that two adults in the home were alerted by alarm and escaped safely and that a young child awoke an adult in the downstairs unit of the garage and they also got out unharmed.
Neighbor Julius Pitre said he was woken up to flames spreading fast.
The State Fire Marshal said the fire has ‘suspicious circumstances,’ and they are conducting interviews as part of the investigation.
"You have two structures -- two large structures -- and a vehicle that were able to catch and spread so quickly. So in an instance like that, of course seems to be a red flag. We've got a couple things that aren't adding up and so we are just working through that right now," Ashley Rodrigue with the State Fire Marshal's Office said.
Tips about this fire can be submitted anonymously to SFM investigators by calling our Arson Hotline at 1-800-256-5452 or by submitting information through our online tip form which can be found at lasfm.org.