Burglar bars hamper attempt to rescue woman in house fire

• By SONIA SMITH
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Nov 20, 2008 - Page: 3B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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A 47-year-old woman died early Wednesday when flames trapped her inside her Scotlandville home, firefighters said, and burglar bars on the house’s doors and windows hampered rescue efforts.

When firefighters arrived at 2657 78th Ave. at 3:30 a.m., flames were roaring out through the house’s roof, Baton Rouge Fire Department spokesman Barry Mounce said.

Despite working simultaneously to fight the fire from the front and pull the burglar bars off the house’s back windows, firefighters were not able to save Sheri Lamont White, who was trapped in a back bedroom of the white brick house, Mounce said.

The presence of burglar bars “obviously slowed down the response,” Mounce said, but cautioned that the house was so engulfed when firefighters arrived, that the bars may not have made much of a difference.

Three others in the house, White’s mother, sister, and nephew, escaped on their own, but one had to be hospitalized for burns, Mounce said.

The fire was under control by 4:12 a.m., he said.

The fire started in the living room, Mounce said, and while the exact cause has yet to be determined, investigators do not suspect foul play.

Don Moreau, chief of operations for the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office, said an autopsy revealed that White died from smoke inhalation. She had some burns, but they were not severe, he added.

On Wednesday afternoon, piles of burnt garbage and furniture pulled from the charred husk of the house sat on the front lawn.

Firefighters were forced to use the Fire Department’s new backhoe to remove the debris, which filled the house and kept reigniting, Mounce said.

“There was a lot of fuel in there to burn,” Mounce said.

Neighbors, including Tiffany Hampton, 31, looked in disbelief at what remained of the house Wednesday afternoon.

“Never in a million years would I have thought it would be like this,” she said. “My heart goes out to the family.”