By LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / January 13, 1999

LAPLACE – A trailer fire of unknown origin claimed the life of John B.

Anderson, 41, early Monday morning.

He was located by firefighters sitting in a chair next to the bed, apparently dead from smoke inhalation, his mother, Margaret Anderson, said.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” she said, grieving.

Maj. Harold Klibert of the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office said an autopsyconducted Monday confirmed the cause of death as smoke inhalation.

The trailer camper/trailer was located behind Margaret’s Bar, 1075 East Airline Highway, at 616 Jaubert Lane.

Margaret Anderson said her son, disabled from a back condition and separated from his wife, Jeanne, was depressed. This led to heavydrinking, which resulted in a DWI arrest Jan. 7 by Louisiana State Police. Anderson was also charged on that occasion with reckless operation of a motor vehicle and driving under suspension besides the first-offense DWI.

He was released that same day upon posting bond.

He stayed away most of Sunday, and his mother said she was surprised at 11 p.m. to see him outside the bar.Anderson said he was going back to the trailer and his mother said she would come to talk with him in a few minutes.

A short time later, a man stuck his head in the door to tell her the trailer was burning.

She and her husband, John, and other bar patrons attempted to reach her trapped son, but the door was stuck. She claimed it took firefighters ahalf-hour to respond, but added, “It didn’t matter anyway, he was already dead from asphyxiation.”The sheriff’s office received the call at 12:23 a.m., Klibert said, and addedwhen firefighters arrived, the trailer was “fully engulfed.” A statementfrom LaPlace VFD Chief Robert Bourgeois said the department’s first notice was received at 12:31 a.m., and the first unit arrived at the sceneat 12:42 a.m.The fire was brought under control within 30 minutes of arrival, and the last unit departed at 2:36 a.m., Bourgeois added.The LVFD responded with three engines, one rescue unit, two officer’s vehicles and 12 firefighters.

Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:21 a.m.Anderson is survived by his wife, Jeanne, and two children, Joseph and Jessica. He is also survived by his brother, Byron, and sister, Jon-Ellen.Ironically, his younger brother, Kevin, shot himself in November 1980.

“It’s not supposed to be this way,” Anderson’s father commented sadly.

Anderson’s parents suspect a dropped cigarette or a faulty electrical space heater to be the cause of the fire. Investigators from the State FireMarshal’s office conducted its own investigation Monday afternoon, Klibert said.

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