Sheriff: Cause of Tiger Island Fire under investigation; weather is main concern

BEAUREGARD PARISH, La. (KPLC) - The Tiger Island Fire has made a significant impact on Beauregard Parish over the past ten days, destroying several homes and burning over 30,000 acres.

Since the fire began last week, investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office, along with some detectives from the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office, are in the middle of an investigation to determine the cause and the point of origin of the fire.

The sheriff said as fire crews continue to try to contain the fires, more resources are now available.

“Different fires spring up every day, and the goal is now there’s enough resources in the parish to address those quickly, and hopefully they can adjust them so fast that they don’t have time to spread,” Sheriff Herford said.

As for the current status of the Tiger Island Fire, he said weather is still a big concern.

“Right now on the Tiger Island Fire in particular, they have been able to plow lanes around the entire perimeter of that fire. The biggest concern right now is the weather, we’re not projected any rain today. Maybe some over the weekend,” Herford said.

Herford said he is in communication with the federal force over the Tiger Island Fire daily.

“Every morning we have a briefing both with the Tiger Island crews, the feds, and then we also do the Zoom-type meeting with Louisiana GOHSEP [Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness], which involves almost every state agency and their role and their activities for the last 24 hours of what’s going on with the fire,” he said.

Herford said as residents return home, continue to be cautious.

“We still have a couple voluntary evacuations that are still out there. We’re not trying to keep people from coming back to their homes, but just if they do, they need to be cautious that with the wind swirling and shifting things can change in a very short period of time. And we just really want them to be alert and aware and try to keep up with what’s being put out, so that they are informed,” he said.

Herford told us there is no connection between the Tiger Island hunting lease and the fire.

Daily updates on the Tiger Island wildfire can be found HERE.

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