NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Fire Department began a long battle with a 4-alarm apartment fire, on Wednesday night.
The Gentilly Ridge apartment complex, located at 6000 Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans East, went up in flames around 6:50 p.m.
The first company arrived on the scene at 7:00 pm, reporting heavy fire coming through the roof of the complex. Firefighters immediately called for a second alarm due to the size of the structure and the number of occupants living in the building at the time of the fire.
With the assistance of the NOPD, firefighters and officers began evacuating the 175 residents of the complex. Once crews completed the evacuation of the complex, they shifted their focus to attacking the fire.
According to the NOFD, “The fire burned so hot and spread so quickly even extending to units on the opposite side of the shared courtyard, the fire walls were not as effective as we would have liked.
Subsequently a third and fourth alarm were struck at 7:21 and 7:41 pm. To assist with manpower
as well as dispatching additional aerial units to attack the fire from above..”
Twenty-five NOFD units carrying sixty Fire Operations personnel were deployed to the scene of
this fire.
As of Thursday morning, there have been no reports of any civilian or firefighter injuries at this time. Early reports were that there may have been a total of 175 residents living at this complex at the time of the fire.
Firefighters are still at the scene on Thursday morning for a fire watch. Due to significant damage, the complex was not habitable on Wednesday night. The American Red Cross of Louisiana was on scene to address the housing needs of residents temporarily displaced by the fire.
The New Orleans Emergency Medical Services (NOEMS), the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) also assisted in mitigation of this incident. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
