The building at 4200 Washington Avenue, photographed in April 2017, prior to the fire. (via Google Maps)
After a fire early Tuesday morning heavily damaged a clothing store on Washington Avenue in Broadmoor, New Orleans fire officials have begun an arson investigation, citing suspicious circumstances.
The fire at 4200 Washington Avenue (at the corner of North Dupre Street) was reported just after 3:40 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8, and firefighters arrived six minutes later to find the inside of the clothing store occupying one unit in the building, Brands for Less, “already heavily involved in fire,” according to the New Orleans Fire Department report.
Firefighters entered through the glass front windows and doors and were able ton contain the blaze to the clothing store, preventing all but smoke and water damage to the other two units in the single-story wood-framed building, the report states.
“The suspicious nature of the fire, business closed and store-front window broken on arrival, prompted the Incident Commander to request an NOFD Fire Investigator and an investigator from the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office,” the report states.
A total of 14 firefighting vehicles with 46 personnel brought the blaze under control by 4:19 a.m., with no injuries reported, the report states.
