BATON ROUGE - A homeowner is still trying to rebuild after his house caught fire last week, prolonging the process of moving his elderly father into his home.

Alphonso Potter is salvaging what was left behind after a squatter entered his home and started a fire, presumably to keep warm. Potter said he's hurt by what happened.

"It is painful to watch all of your hard work go up in flames," he said.

The home was vacant while Potter was renovating the building. While he was away, a trespasser had been there for weeks.

"It was private property. It was secured at some point somebody entered and took up residence. You know, it's a consequence as a homeowner that I'm paying for. I pray that this doesn't happen to anyone else this winter season," he said.

Potter found a mattress and shoes on a shoe rack inside the home. According to him, the squatter had an extension cord running from a neighbor's house, taking electricity, and was burning items inside the house, trying to stay warm. The fire has put an added burden on Potter.

Potter says he knows who the squatter is but the squatter has not been identified. 

"I'm trying to provide for my family and rebuild and add to my community, you know? It takes away tremendously."

The renovation will take much longer and add to the issues that Potter and his family are dealing with.

"Two and a half months ago, my dad received a traumatic brain injury and two frontal lobe bleeds. He had craniotomy," Potter said. "I was preparing to relocate my dad and downsize him into his home, which I had been preparing for him. This is a tragedy."

Arson investigators with the Baton Rouge Fire Department are examining the case for potential criminal charges. Potter says he won't give up on making this space a home for his father.

"Clean up the debris, secure the house, change the locks, and start rebuilding as soon as possible," Potter said.

Potter urges people with vacant homes in the area to communicate with neighbors to keep this from happening to them as well. He set up a GoFundMe for donations to help make up for the damages.