UPDATED: Fire Marshal suspects space heater is the source of a fire that killed girl, 12, in Eunice

State Fire Marshal’s office investigators suspect a space heater is the source of the Monday morning house fire that took the life of 12-year-old Cailey Duplechin.
Eunice firefighters responded to the fire at 1541 Williams Ave. at 5:30 a.m., when a neighbor reported flames coming from the home’s living room.
While putting out the fire, firefighters located the 12-year-old’s body in a bedroom in the northwest area of the residence.
Ryan Andrepont, a companion of the girl’s mother, and the girl’s 4-month-old brother also were in the house at the time of the fire, but were able to escape. They sustained injuries in the fire and were taken to a hospital where a full recovery is expected.
Brant L. Thompson, deputy chief with the fire marshal’s office, said, “An effort was made (by Andrepont) to rescue the girl. He sustained injuries from breaking windows to get to her, but he was unable to do so. He said he was very disoriented during the fire and that occurs with smoke inhalation.”
Preliminary indications from an autopsy are that Duplechin died from smoke inhalation. Investigators determined that the fire began in the living room of the brick home, which was completely destroyed by the fire. While no official determination as to the cause of the fire has been established, investigators discovered two space heaters in the home — one in the kitchen and another in the living room. The living room heater remnants were located within the area of origin of the fire, the kitchen area heater was eliminated as the source of the fire during the investigation.
“A space is heater is the suspected cause of the fire’s source,” Thompson said. “The one in the living room was in use at the time of the fire. We suspect its placement gave rise to the fire.”
Thompson said the office cautions space heater users to never leave the device unattended and to place the units at least three feet away from any combustible material.
Investigators also found that there were no working smoke alarms present in the home.
Duplechain was a sixth grader at Central Middle School. She is the daughter of Shannon Pecoraro of Eunice and David L. Duplechain of Alexandria.