December housefire victim identified

The victim of the Dec. 19 housefire on Vernon Street has been identified as 41-year-old John Jordan.

The Lincoln Parish Coroner’s Office on Wednesday said Jordan was disabled but that his caretaker was not with him at the time of the blaze. Cause of death is still undetermined pending Jordan’s autopsy report, Hazel Woods, coroner’s office chief investigator, said.

Meantime, the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office has determined the fire started in the living room where the victim was located.

“While the cause of this fire remains undetermined, deputies have been unable to rule out the possibility of unsafe smoking practices as a contributing factor,” Ashley Rodrigue, public affairs director with the fire marshal’s office, said.

Firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after 10 p.m. Dec. 19 after a neighbor called 911 saying the house was on fire. The structure was located at the intersection of Vernon Street and East Arizona Avenue.

It took firefighters approximately two-and-a-half hours to quell the blaze.