Iberia Parish Sheriff's deputy killed, another injured in mobile home fire

An Iberia Parish Sheriff's Deputy was killed in a mobile home fire and another was injured. 

The fire started at about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 2400 block of Conrad Road in Erath, according to the Louisiana State Fire Marshal's Office, which is investigating the fire.

Lt. Paul Lancon died in the fire, said Iberia Parish Sheriff's spokesman Maj. Wendell Raborn. Another man, also a sheriff's deputy, was found outside the home and taken to the hospital for treatment of first-degree burns and smoke inhalation. The two had worked the night shift and were asleep when the fire started.

Lancon has been with the sheriff's office since June 2015, Raborn said. He worked as a shift lieutenant at the Iberia Parish Jail. 

"Sheriff Louis Ackal is saddened to announce the unfortunate loss of Lt. Paul Lancon due to a fire at his home in Vermilion Parish. Yesterday our office was informed that firefighters responded to a reported trailer fire and upon their arrival they found one person outside and learned that Lt. Lancon was still in the home," Sheriff Louis Ackal said in a statement. "Lt. Lancon’s family is currently in the process of making funeral arrangement."

Lancon rose through the ranks at the sheriff's office after starting in dispatch and then transferring to corrections, said Raborn, who knew Lancon professionally. 

"He was admired by the deputies on his shift," Raborn said. "He had a good head on his shoulders and was a good leader."

Because the department cannot stop what it's doing to process Lancon's death, it will have to "grieve on the way," Raborn said.

"When we broke the news that he had lost his life, a lot of people were shaken up by that because he was well-liked," he said. "It will be a hard void to fill."

A GoFundMe has been created for Lancon and the other deputy, who were roommates. 

The investigation into the fire is ongoing and the cause of the fire is still being determined. 

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