An elderly man was found dead on Wednesday morning, Jan. 17, from hypothermia as ice-cold temperatures blanketed Louisiana state, according to reports.
Paul Walker, 84, was found dead on the floor of his home after a concerned neighbor called the police at around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, local network WAFB reported. The man’s 80-year-old wife was taken to a nearby hospital, and is also recovering from hypothermia.
The Pointe Coupee Sheriff’s Office said that the elderly couple were “deathly afraid” to use their space heater overnight, according to WVLA-TV.
Authorities said the couple, both wheelchair-bound, had no working heat in their home because they had an old heating system.
Joe Gannon, Pointe Coupee chief deputy coroner, told WBRZ that the home was about 20 degrees Farenheit when they arrived.
“It’s horrible, in this day and time that somebody would die from freezing to death in their own home,” Gannon said.
Neighbor Ervin Terrance said that Walker’s wife was particularly afraid of using a heater overnight because of a tragic experience from the past.
“She said because it’s because she had some children got burnt up in New Orleans when they were living there,” Terrance said to the television station.
The lowest temperature in Baton Rouge on Wednesday morning was 14 degrees Farenheit, the coldest temperature in the area since Dec. 24, 1989, according to the National Weather Service.
In a separate incident on Wednesday morning, a firefighter was killed in a car accident while responding to a crash, WAFB reported. Authorities told the station that icy conditions were the likely culprit.
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