8-28-23
SAINT LANDRY PARISH FIREFIGHTERS BATTLED A WILDFIRE SUNDAY AFTERNOON NEAR PALMETTO. MELVILLE FIRE CHIEF COLE PONTHIEUX SAYS IT TOOK THEM THREE TO FOUR HOURS TO CONTAIN THE FIRE. IT OCCURRED OFF OF CHANCE ROAD AT AROUND TWO P-M. HE SAYS FIREFIGHTERS STAYED AT THE SITE FOR A WHILE TO MONITOR A FEW HOTSPOTS.
A LAFAYETTE MAN WAS ARRESTED FOR ARSON IN CONNECTION WITH A MOBILE HOME FIRE AT THE TRAILS END MOBILE HOME PARK IN MAURICE SUNDAY AFTERNOON. TRUCKS FROM SEVEN FIRE DEPARTMENTS RESPONDED TO THE FIRE BUT THE MOBILE HOME WAS ENGULFED IN FLAMES WHEN THEY ARRIVED. NO ONE WAS HOME AT THE TIME BUT A DOG AT THE HOME WAS RESCUED. WHILE BATTLING THE FLAMES, A LARGE FIELD IGNITED AND IT TOOK FIREFIGHTERS MORE THAN TWO HOURS TO PUT OUT THE BLAZE. THE MAN ARRESTED WAS THIRTY-YEAR-OLD JARAD DECUIR.
A MANDATORY EVACUATION FOR THE TOWN OF MERRYVILLE IN BEAUREGARD PARISH HAS BEEN LIFTED, BUT IS STILL IN EFFECT FOR AREAS EAST, NORTH AND NORTHEAST OF MERRYVILLE. OVERNIGHT RAINS HAVE HELPED FIREFIGHTERS BRING THE TIGER ISLAND FIRE TO FIFTY PERCENT CONTAINMENT. THE BEAUREGARD PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS MORE THAN THIRTY-THREE THOUSAND ACRES BURNED IN THE WILDFIRES. OVERALL CONDITIONS WILL BE DRY AND HOT, CAUSING FIREFIGHTING EFFORTS TO BE CHALLENGING.
LOUISIANA SECRETARY OF STATE KYLE ARDOIN IS CALLING ON LOUISIANANS TO PRAY FOR RELIEF FROM THE HIGH TEMPERATURE, DROUGHT AND WILDFIRES. HE ASKED FOR PRAYER FOR THOSE WHO LOST HOMES OR WERE FORCED TO EVACUATE. AND HE SAYS FIRST RESPONDERS WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK TO KEEP EVERYONE SAFE NEED PRAYER AS WELL. ARDOIN SAYS PRAYER IS POWERFUL AND HE KNOWS LOUISIANANS WILL COME TOGETHER TO HELP THOSE WHO HAVE LOST SO MUCH IN THESE DIFFICULT DAYS.
SUGAR CANE FARMERS FEAR THEY WILL LOSE CROPS THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME HEAT AND DROUGHT. JIM DOMINGUES, WHO, ALONG WITH HIS BROTHER, RUNS DOMINGUES FARM IN ERATH, TELLS KATC TV THEY ARE HAVING TO RELY ON DEEP WATER WELLS, SOME FROM THE NINETEEN-FORTIES, IN ORDER TO IRRIGATE AND SALVAGE THE CROP. HE SAYS THEY CAN’T IRRIGATE EVERY ACRE, BUT AT LEAST THEY CAN GO TO BED AT NIGHT SAYING THEY TRIED. SUGAR CANE FARMERS ARE HOPING FOR STEADY RAINFALLS WILL COME TO HELP SAVE THEIR HARVEST.
TWO PEOPLE IN OPELOUSAS WERE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AFTER BEING SHOT IN THE EIGHT HUNDRED BLOCK OF EAST JEFFERSON STREET. AN ARGUMENT BETWEEN TWO MEN OVER A FEMALE AQUAINTANCE LED ONE OF THE MEN TO PRODUCE A GUN. HE SHOT THE OTHER MAN, WHO’S IN SERIOUS CONDITION, AND A FEMALE WHO WAS IN THE AREA, BUT HER WOUND WAS TO THE LEG AND IS NOT LIFE-THREATENING. THE SHOOTING SUSPECT, TWENTY-YEAR-OLD ISIAH PICKNEY OF OPELOUSAS, WAS ARRESTED ON SEVERAL CHARGES INCLUDING TWO COUNTS OF ATTEMPTED SECOND-DEGREE MURDER.
A SUSPECT WAS KILLED IN AN OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING EARLY SUNDAY MORNING AT THE INTERSECTION OF GUM ISLAND ROAD AND L-A ONE-OH-EIGHT IN CALCASIEU PARISH. SEVERAL LAW ENFORCMENT AGENCIES TOOK PART IN THE PURSUIT OF THE SUSPECT FOLLOWING A TRAFFIC STOP. WHEN THE PURSUIT ENDED, THERE WAS AN EXCHANGE OF GUNFIRE AND THE SUSPECT WAS SHOT AND KILLED, WHILE AT LEAST ONE OFFICER WAS INJURED. THE CAMERON PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE HAS REQUESTED THE STATE POLICE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS TO INVESTIGATE THE SHOOTING.
SOME PARTS OF ACADIA PARISH SAW SOME SEVERE WEATHER THIS WEEKEND. SARAH WALKER, WHO OWNS AN EXOTIC ANIMAL RANCH, TELLS KLFY TV SHE WASN’T SURE WHAT HAPPENED, BUT THE COVER FOR HER SWIMMING POOL GOT RIPPED AWAY AND A TREE WAS KNOCKED DOWN. ALSO PARTS OF AN ANIMAL ENCLOSURE WAS KNOCKED OVER AND SOME BIRD CAGES TURNED OVER. JORDAN DURIO AT D-I’S CAJUN RESTAURANT SAYS THEY EXPERIENCED HIGH WINDS THAT KNOCKED OUT THE POWER, SO THAT CUSTOMERS HAD TO USE THE LIGHTS ON THEIR PHONES TO SEE.
