AMY SZPARA

PHOTO: DIANNE AND JERRY GAUDET STAND IN FRONT OF THEIR BURNED TRAILOR HOME. The couple came home early in the morning on Valentine’s Day, after being out with friends to find their home burned down and their puppy, Sissy, dead from smoke inhalation. (Staff Photo by Amy Szpara) LAPLACE – Dianne Gaudet of LaPlace recently came home to a horrible sight. Her trailer home was engulfed in flames, and everything she owned was inside. Not concerned about her belongings, she ran toward the trailer, remembering her 9-month-old puppy was inside. Unfortunately, the firemen on the scene could not allow her to go into her burning home. “I had her since she was a baby,” Gaudet said about her dog, adding that the terrier/chihuahua mix named Sissy was given to her when it was 3-months old. “She was my little baby.” Gaudet had been out with some friends when the fire started. After returning to Airline Oaks Trailer Court where she lived, she and the friends saw fire in the back of the trailer park. “I heard fire trucks, and I said, Oh, Lord. There’s a fire,'” said Gaudet. When she got closer to the fire she saw it was her own home. “I tried to run in to get my dog, but the trailer just went up. It happened so fast. We lost everything,” she said. Gaudet’s husband, Jerry, had also been out with friends, so he was not home either. By the time he returned their trailer was nothing more than melted tin, ashes and singed remnants of their life in their home. Judy Hebert, Gaudet’s sister-in-law, let the couple spend Wednesday night at her home on River Road. Hebert, who works at the laundry facility in front of the trailer court, said Gaudet has received a few donations since the fire. The owner of the court and laundry facility let the Gaudet family stay in another trailer on his property. Though the trailer that burned was their own, the one across the way will be a rental. The American Red Cross donated the first month’s rent and a food voucher to the couple. It also gave them a $265 gift certificate for K-Mart to purchase clothing. A local man also donated $200 to the Gaudets. They were able to purchase cleaning supplies, some dishes, cooking utensils and pots, a few pair of jeans, some shoes and undergarments. “Some things can be replaced,” said Hebert. “But not the photographs, the wedding pictures, pictures of her dead father and grandparents,” she said, holding a picture of the couple that was seared around the edges. Fortunately, the fire was maintained and did not spread to other homes. However, the neighbors, who are out of town, have some damage to their property. The heat from the fire caused the outside of their trailer to bubble out some, the mini blinds to melt and the window to crack. According to Gaudet, the fire started in the back from a short in a breaker box in the wall. The Gaudets both receive SSI because they are mentally disabled, said Hebert. Neither knows how to read or write, and Hebert helps them with documents and finances. Gaudet was heartbroken over her puppy. She and her husband buried her the next day, and the friend who gave the dog to them built a cross for the grave. Sissy is buried next to the railroad tracks behind the trailer park. Timmy Poche, the friend who gave Sissy to the couple, said it was a shame the dog had to die. “I hate to see something like that,” he said. Sissy was one from his own dog’s litter. “That dog was spoiled rotten. It was like a kid to them,” Poche said. According to Hebert, the Airline Oaks laundromat and bar are collecting donations for the couple. Anyone interested in helping can go by the laundry facility or stop by the Gaudets’ new residence, 145 Emmett Court in Airline Oaks Trailer Court.