State Fire Marshal investigators are looking into whether unattended cooking may have led to a house fire where a man’s body was recovered late Tuesday night.
Investigators were dispatched to 1314 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, in Ville Platte, after fire crews responded to a report of a residential structure fire just after 10 p.m. Tuesday. While conducting suppression efforts, firefighters discovered the body of 55-year-old Jessie Bias in the living room of the wood-framed structure, which suffered heavy interior damage as a result of the fire.
After being examined by investigators, the victim’s body was released to the Evangeline Parish Coroner for autopsy.
While no official determination has been made as to what caused the fire, investigators have established that the fire originated on the stove in the kitchen where melted remnants of a cooking pot were discovered.
The investigation into the fire continues.