Woman grilling lunch dies after BBQ pit engulfs house in flames, Louisiana officials say
A woman who was grilling lunch at home died when the unattended barbecue pit caught the house on fire and trapped her inside, Louisiana fire marshals say.
At around 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21, a fire began at a Marksville home after a grill, set up in the back of a pickup truck in a carport, had been left in use and unattended.
The barbecue pit caught other items in the truck on fire, then “grew out of control spreading into the home,” said the new release.
Fire marshals believe the 70-year-old disabled homeowner was inside. Officials report that relatives tried to rescue the woman by pulling her through a window before rescuers arrived, but were unsuccessful.
Marksville is about 30 miles southeast of Alexandria.
Unattended cooking was the leading cause of cooking fires and casualties from 2014 to 2018, according to the National Fire Protection Association. U.S. fire departments responded to about 172,900 home structure fires per year that were caused by cooking activities in this period.
These fires caused an average of 550 civilian deaths, 4,820 reported civilian fire injuries and more than $1 billion in direct property damage per year.
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