The State Fire Marshal’s Office has charged a Ville Platte father after his 3-year-old son was found alone at home when a fire broke out.

30-year-old Kriger Jones was booked into the Evangeline Parish Jail on one count of child desertion.

It happened around 8 a.m. Monday when the Ville Platte Fire Department responded to a fire call in the 1200 block of Fruge Street.

On arrival, firefighters learned a neighbor rescued an unattended 3-year-old boy from the home after spotting smoke and hearing the child crying inside.

Investigators determined the fire started in the kitchen of the home around the stove.

In an interview with investigators, investigators say, Jones,admitted to leaving the toddler alone to walk two blocks away while the child’s mother was at work.

Jones also told investigators there was a pot of grease on the stove, however, he thought the stove was turned off.