Mother & 2 Infants Killed In Kaplan House Fire Sunday
The State Fire Marshal’s Office suspects that an electrical malfunction may have sparked a house fire yielding three fatalities in Kaplan Sunday morning.
State Fire Marshal Brant Thompson reported 22-year-old Felicie Cloteaux and two infant children were killed in the blaze just before 5 a.m. Sunday morning.
Firefighters responded to the fire on Romeal Road just before 5 a.m. to find the single-wide manufactured home completely engulfed in flames.
Three of the home’s occupants escaped, but, in a bedroom of the home firefighters discovered the bodies of Cloteaux, 3-year-old Rory Hudson, and 1-year-old Arabella Hudson.
Investigators assume Cloteaux and her children died from smoke inhalation before exiting the home. The victims' bodies were released to the Vermilion Parish Coroner for autopsy.
While no official cause of the fire has been determined, investigators established that the fire originated in the central area of the home near a living room couch. Investigators strongly suspect that an electrical malfunction sparked the fire.
There were no working smoke alarms in the home at the time of the fire.