Harlan Kirgan
A 40-year-old Eunice woman was charged with simple arson by the State Fire Marshal after a house at 311 North Cane St. burned about 1 a.m. Sunday.
Adrienne Sherrell Guillory was arrested Monday in connection with the fire at the house she was renting, Deputy Chief Fire Marshal Brandt Thompson said.
The fire capped a chaotic night at the North Cane Street address.
At about midnight Eunice Police were on the scene to arrest Clarence Anthony Arceneaux, 50, on several warrants.
Sgt. A.J. Frank and several other officers were attempting to arrest Arceneaux and followed him to the address where he exited a vehicle and fled on foot, a police report stated.
Arceneaux was captured in the backyard of the North Cane Street address, which is listed as his residence in an arrest report.
Arceneaux was arrested for distribution of Schedule II drug, possession of marijuana, violation of uniformed controlled dangerous substance drug-free zone, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting an officer by fleeing on foot.
At 1 a.m. Sunday, Eunice firefighters were dispatched to the North Cane Street house that Guillory is accused of torching.
Thompson said Guillory is believed to have started a fire on a bed in the southeast corner of the house.
“The matter is still under investigation although we did make an arrest in the case,” Thompson said.
Guillory has cooperated with investigators and has not admitted to her role in causing the fire, he said.
“We were able to place her at the scene,” he said.
“She was the only one that had access to the home at that time,” Thompson said.
“...We do know that her boyfriend had also been arrested the evening of the fire approximately an hour before the fire on drug-related charge,” he said.
When firefighters arrived on the scene they had to breach the door to gain entrance, he said.
Eunice Fire Chief Mike Arnold said two pumps trucks, a rescue unit and 22 fire personnel were at the fire.
The fire was concentrated on the south side of the house, he said. When firefighters arrived a neighbor on the south side of the house was spraying his house with a garden hose, he said.
There no injuries and firefighters were at the scene until about 2:30 a.m.
Firefighters returned to the house when it was discovered at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday that the fire had rekindled in the attic, Arnold said.
Thompson said the motivation for setting the fire is unknown, but there had been other incidents where the boyfriend’s clothing had been set on fire in the backyard.
Guillory is out of the St. Landry Parish Jail on $10,000 bail paid Monday, Maj. Eddie Thibodeaux, St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s public information officer, stated.
If convicted of simple arson, Guillory faces up to a $15,000 fine and 15 years in prison.
Eunice Police Deputy Chief Richard Daigle said Arceneaux was arrested previously while he was a city employee for using a city vehicle to pick up and sell drugs. That arrest occurred in April 2014. Also arrested at the time was another city employee, Joshua Dupre.
Police alleged Dupre and Arceneaux operated their drug business while on the clock for the city, and city vehicles were used to pick up large quantities of drugs.