New Iberia firefighters injured in explosion
Published 1:23 pm Thursday, July 29, 2021
- New Iberia firefighters and police officers, along with officials from the Louisiana State Fire Marshal's Office, CenterPoint Energy, Department of Natural Resources, and workers from the New Iberia Sewage Department and Louisiana Water Company, were on the scene of a house fire that resulted in a gas line explosion Thursday morning in the 800 block of Hopkins Street. Four firefighters were injured as a result of the incident.
Parts of Hopkins and Dale street are closed off following a house fire in the area that hospitalized four New Iberia firefighters.
Chief Gordon Copell said firefighters responded to reports of a house fire on Thursday. Copell said information so far indicates that upon entering the house a gas explosion occurred out of the front of the house all the way to the fire trucks.
Following the incident, two firefighters were airlifted to a Baton Rouge hospital and one was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes in Lafayette for burn damage.
According to Iberia Parish School Board member Raymond “Shoe Do” Lewis, his oldest son was one of those firefighters injured at the scene.
“My son, Capt. Gary Simon, was one of those injured in the explosion on Hopkins Street,” Lewis said. “Our prayers are with him, as well as his other two colleagues who were injured in the explosion.”
One other firefighter was also admitted to Iberia Medical Center for heat exhaustion later in the day.
The scene is still being contained, and Copell said sections of the street are still closed off.
Community Editor Dwayne Fatherree contributed to this story.
