3 dead and 7 injured in Louisiana Christmas fire.
In perhaps the saddest story to come this Christmas, three children were burned alive in their family’s trailer after it caught on fire.
It was approximately 2:15 a.m. on the day of Christmas when neighbor Chantel Guillote and her family heard a loud boom from the home next door to their Whispering Oaks Trailer Park in Houma, La.
What the heard next will surely be engraved in their minds forever. They heard screaming in Spanish as their neighbors banged on Guillote’s windows.
When she opened the doors, she found a family desperate for help on her doorstep and saw the smoke. Guillote, 35, her boyfriend, and her son hurried over in a desperate attempt to save her neighbors from the fire.
They grabbed as many children as they could and brought them to their trailer. But three remained trapped in flames per LA Times.
When the ambulance came to the scene, they translated in English for the family what had occurred, and convinced them to go to the hospital. The father of the three children understandably did not want to leave the scene although he was severely burned.
A 12-year-old girl, and two boys ages 11 and 9 died from the fire, authorities said, and seven others were injured.
Lance LaMarca, district chief of investigation at Louisiana Fire Marshel’s Office, said that twelve people were in the mobile home at the time of the fire. The other names have yet to be released.
The family, including the dead children, had come from Alabama to visit for the holidays, LaMarca said.
Of the seven that survived, one remains in the burn center at Baton Rouge General Medical Center while the other six were discharged earlier Thursday.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation. One thing that has been determined is that in the living room, where the bodies were found, space heaters were present.
ANN.Az