By Bonnie Culverhouse 

Two residential fires kept local departments busy Tuesday night. 

Webster Fire District 10 Chief Daniel Davidson said the first call for Old Arcadia Road came in around 7:40 p.m.

“On arrival we found a wood frame structure with heavy fire on the front side of it,” Davidson said. “Fire attack was made, and the fire was quickly knocked down. The house was occupied by a father and son, who were both home at the time of the fire.”

Davidson said the son smelled the smoke first and alerted his father of the fire. Both were in separate parts of the house and were able to escape unharmed.  During the initial fire attack, City of Minden firefighters, who were there as mutual aid, were able to rescue the family dog from under a bed in one of the bedrooms. The dog appeared unharmed and was reunited with the occupant.  

“Units spent more than two hours performing overhaul operations, checking for hidden fires,” said the chief. “The fire had spread into the attic area and into a wall. Foam was applied and a thermal camera was used to check for any hot spots. After the fire was extinguished, all personnel cleared the scene around 10 p.m.”

Davidson said the fire rekindled during the overnight hours.

“Because of the time of night and the low traffic during that time, the fire spread significantly before emergency services were contacted,” he said. “District 10 and the City of Minden were again dispatched around 4:15 a.m. On arrival, units found the house fully involved in flames. Dubberly Fire District 4 was requested as mutual aid for water supply. Units spent more than five hours extinguishing the fire. The house and the contents were a complete loss.”

On investigation of the original call, the origin of the fire was determined to be in the living room, near the front door, he said. The occupant stated there was nothing in that area that could have ignited the fire, to his knowledge. Due to the extent of the damage in that room, the cause of the fire was undetermined. Arson is not suspected, and the property and contents were not insured.

While Minden Fire Department was serving as mutual aid the first time at the fire on Old Arcadia Road, District 4 received a call on La. Hwy. 531 near Pierce Lane in Dubberly, and they were dispatched again as mutual aid.

Dist. 4 Chief Ronnie Chreene said that call came around 8:20 p.m. Tuesday.

“It was a fairly new mobile home,” Chreene said. “It was heavily damaged, but it will be up to the insurance company to decide if it is totaled.”

Chreene said the department, along with help from MFD as mutual aid, knocked out the blaze “fairly quickly.”

“It probably took a couple of hours to put it out completely,” he said.

Cause of that fire is still under investigation.