Champagne’s in Ville Platte catches on fire early Friday

A little after 2:00 a.m on July 1st, the Ville Platte Fire Department responded to a structure fire at Champagne’s Supermarket on Tate Cove Road, which threatened to put the Ville Platte grocery store out of commission, at least temporarily.
Patrick Nero, the stores owner, learned about the fire after receiving a call from Ville Platte Chief of Police Neal Lartigue around 3:00 a.m. and was told that he needed to get to the store.
According to Nero, he believes that the fire was started by accident from roofers who have been working at his business.
Nero explained, “What I think probably happened is that the tar that the roofers heat to seal the tin pieces of roof was heated too much and possibly caught something on fire.”
The fire was reported, according to store employee Roxanne Brown, “by someone that saw smoke coming from the roof of the building.”
When firemen arrived on the scene they were able to keep the fire from spreading, which left the Ville Platte business with damage contained to the roof of the structure.
Brown said, “There is not as much damage as there could have been. It is mostly on the roof and there is a little water damage inside. Besides that, everything is good.”
The damage that was done didn’t stop the store from opening at its regular time of 7:00 a.m. on Friday morning.
While the official cause of the fire is still unknown, both the store owner and employees are just happy that the situation was seen about quickly enough to keep the establishment from going up in flames.
Brown said, “I’m just glad that someone was paying attention and saw the smoke. A situation like this makes you appreciate your job, and realize how much of a blessing it is to still have a place to go to work.”
Nero said, “I want to thank all of the firemen and Ville Platte police officers for responding so quickly, and for getting the situation under control.”