NEW ORLEANS — A 61-year-old man was killed in a residential structure fire overnight in Hammond. The Hammond Fire Department identified him as William Moore.
He just moved from the New Orleans area to live in a safer area, according to his family. He died less than a day after moving into his new home.
"He had just moved up to the Hammond area from New Orleans, wanted to move up to a quieter place," Hammond Fire Chief Daniel Folks said.
Hammond firefighters responded to the home off Old Covington Highway just before 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"They arrived on the scene to find a well involved mobile home," Folks said.
He said firefighters had the fire under control in minutes. They found Moore's body inside the home.
"We show up to save lives so it's really a hard pill for us to swallow when we’re not able to accomplish that mission. It's something we strive to do everyday and the guys take it personally when they can't accomplish that," Folks said.
Chief Folks said it's been a busy year for the Hammond Fire Department. He said firefighters have worked at least 40 working structure fires so far.
"For a fireman that’s exciting, but for the general public its concerning," he said.
That's why he hopes to ramp up fire prevention efforts like encouraging people to check their smoke alarms. You can check for a date written on your detector. If it's more than 10 years old, you need a new one.
"If it starts chirping, don’t pull the battery out and put it aside. Go get another one, put it back in," he said.
Chief Folks said Moore's home did have working fire alarms.
"So we're not 100 percent sure the circumstances surrounding that," he said.
Moore's family is still wondering why and how this happened. The State Fire Marshals Office has been on the scene investigating what may have started the fire. As of Wednesday afternoon, the agency has not released a possible cause.