WomanSetsHerselfon Fire After Threatening Suicide

New Iberia, LA – A woman, recently released from a mental hospital, set herself on fire Friday morning in New Iberia. State Fire Marshal investigators have been called in to investigate this tragedy.

The State Fire Marshall’s office was contacted by Iberia Parish Sheriff’s deputies after local firefighters responded to a residential structure fire located at 4213 Northside Road, shortly after 10:00 a.m. Friday.

There, firefighters with Iberia Parish Fire District #1 found 24-year-old Kimberly Decuir lying on the kitchen floor severely burned and unresponsive. Decuir later died at a Lafayette hospital.

Investigators with the State Fire Marshall’s office were informed by the victim’s father that his daughter had recently been released from an area hospital after being treated for mental illness. The father went on to tell investigators that his daughter had told him that God had ordered her to burn herself in order to save others.

While processing the scene, investigators found two (2) containers in the living area of the home holding  a substance believed to be diesel fuel. A large amount of the same substance was discovered within the bathtub of a hall bathroom.

Investigators determined that the fire, which inflicted moderate damage to other areas of the structure, originated from within that hallway bathroom, which was significantly damaged by the fire.

This incident remains under investigation by the State Fire Marshall’s Office.