A huge fire consumed a home in the Rigolets Estates neighborhood Friday afternoon, sending flames and smoke hurling into the sky above Slidell.

It happened around 1:30 p.m. when one of the occupants of the home at 240 Marlin Drive was reportedly cleaning his boat and tossed out a cigarette butt. According to St. Tammany Fire District 1 Chief of Fire Protection Services Neil Ricca, the butt may have ignited gas or oil fumes on the outside of the boat.

The man tried to put out the fire with a hose before calling 911. Though firefighters arrived just eight minutes later, Ricca said even a brief delay of a few minutes could have helped the fire to progress. “The boat was parked underneath the carport,” said Ricca. “By the time we got there it had already spread to the rest of the house.”

The man, believed to be the son of homeowner Mark Mascaro, was transported to Slidell Memorial Hospital with first-degree burns, most likely sustained while he was attempting to extinguish the fire.

Ricca said the fire was contained within about 30 minutes, but at one point the radiant heat was so intense the men had to pull back to allow it to disperse. Also of concern was the house next door, which could easily have become involved in the blaze as well.

“The carport was between the two houses, so the challenge was to minimize the damage to the second home at the same time,” said Ricca.

The neighboring home did receive some smoke damage and broken windows during the conflagration.

FD1 received assistance from Fire District 11 in the form of a water truck, and 17 units in all were involved in fighting the fire. No other injuries were reported, and the incident is still under investigation.