By LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / June 9, 1999

LAPLACE – Less than a week after the trailer fire which killed a man and his infant son, a second fire came within minutes of killing a woman in LaPlace.

Kelly Dauphin, 35, 119 Crevasee, had just gone to Winn-Dixie at 4:20 p.m.for some last-minute grocery shopping. Her daughters, Candice, 16, andChantelle, 11, were out visiting nearby relatives.

Neighbors said they heard a boom, and the house exploded into flames. TheLaPlace Volunteer Fire Department got the alarm at 4:24 p.m. and reachedthe scene at 4:30 p.m.The eldest daughter watched helplessly, convinced her mother had died.

When her mother returned from the store the pair embraced in tears then watched as all their possessions burn – again.

It was the second time in less than a year the family had lost everything.

Back on Sept. 11, Dauphin said, the family was living in a trailer owned byher fianc, Danny Weber, 28, when it burned because of a manufacturing defect in the kitchen.

LaPlace Fire Chief Bobby Bourgeois led a firefighter team in battling the blaze.

“They’re trying to say it was some kind of lighter fluid,” Dauphin said Tuesday morning, insisting she had not been cooking at all. “We haven’theard anything definite.”Instead, she continued, “Police put us through hell for five hours last night saying we set it deliberately.”The mother of two said there is “absolutely no way” she would set the house on fire then leave for the store knowing her daughters could return in her absence.

Weber likewise returned from work to the scene of the fire to comfort the family and see about his dogs, which were saved from the fire.

“I’ll work three jobs if I have to,” he told the family, hugging them.

Anyone who could help with food or clothing are asked to contact Dauphin’s sister, Robbie Doman, at 651-0593.

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