Two die in Covington house fire

A Baton Rouge man and his 3-year-old son were killed Sunday when a Covington-area home erupted in flames.

Andrew Crawford, 40, and his son, Brandon, were visiting relatives at 73212 Military Road when the fire started about 2:30 a.m. Eight people were home at the time, according to St. Tammany Fire District 12 Chief Darrell Guilott.

“He got his wife and another child out, along with the other family members, then he went back in to get the boy,” said Guilott. “As hot as this fire was, with so much smoke density, they just couldn’t survive it.”

Crawford’s wife and the other child were transported to St. Tammany Parish Hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries and released later that day. The homeowner and additional family members were not hurt.

Fire Districts 4, 6, 8 and 9 assisted in fighting the blaze, which was contained within an hour, though Guilott said the crew was hampered by lack of access to water in that area.

“We’ve got one hydrant at our station, then the next nearest one is at least two miles away,” he said. “Our regular engines can carry 1,000 gallons, but that doesn’t go very far with a fire of this size.”

The district has a Class 3 fire rating, and water access makes up 40 percent of that rating. Guilott said it could be even higher, but his department makes up for it in training and preplans, or building familiarization.

The fire is believed to have started in a small outdoor wood stove, known as a chiminea, which was reportedly still burning when the family retired for the evening.

State Fire Marshal H. Butch Browning has not ruled out the possibility, however, that a string of decorative outdoor lights may also have contributed to the blaze.

Browning said this was the 93rd time this year a death in a residential fire has occurred in Louisiana. Investigators could not determine if a working smoke detector or alarm was present at the time of the fire.

“The family was not awakened by a smoke alarm, but by the smoke itself,” said Browning. “If there was one in there we haven’t been able to find it.”

Calling the incident a “terrible situation,” Browning expressed his sympathy for the family and reminded the public to check smoke alarm batteries at least once a month.

He also cautioned that time slips away very quickly once a device is installed, and batteries can be dead in a year’s time.