MIDCITY, La. (WGNO)- “Everyone got out safe, luckily.” Initial calls came into NOFD of a building on fire, possibly with someone trapped inside. At 5:27 A.M. the first NOFD crew arrived and found that all of the residents escaped the fire.
The large structure fire was in the 1300 block of S. Saratoga Street. There was a lot of fire with several exposures from the original fire, also catching several surrounding buildings on fire on Thalia Street in the 2100 block. Some of the buildings were occupied.
Embers were so heavy, that the fire actually crossed the street catching another building on fire in the attic. Taking a unique tactic to get the flames out, the firefighters got onto the roof next door, to get a better angle with the water hoses. The fire had vented itself, which means it burned through the roof.
“The fire was just so big and so heavy earlier. There were large embers spreading the fire around. We have the fire under control. As you can see, the main fire building is collapsed and the addition to it, in the rear collapsed. So right now, we just kind of surround the grounds,” explained Roman Nelson, NOFD Fire Chief.
Now that the fire is contained, crews will have to peel layer by layer back, to make sure there are no hot spots or smaller fires below the rubble of both the collapsed buildings.
Since the buildings are not properly marked, the firefighters struggled to figure out the exact address of the fire.
