NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A fire broke out at a church in Uptown on Friday morning.
According to the New Orleans Fire Department, they received a call about smoke coming from the walls of the Austerlitz Street Baptist Church located at 819 Austerlitz Street. Firefighters arrived at the scene by 9:18 a.m. and found heavy fire and smoke coming from the back of the brick building. By 9:42 a.m., the NOFD called a third alarm in response to the heavy smoke.
Firefighters told WGNO that they believed there may have been an electrical issue that caused the fire. According to NOFD, two people stated that they saw a ball of fire coming from the pipe when they turned the lights on and immediately called 911. The fire was brought under control by 10:10 a.m.
It took 22 fire trucks and 56 firefighters to extinguish the flames. NOFD says there was fire and water damage from the incident.No injuries were reported. The fire is still under investigation.