House fire on Cherry Street spreads to two-story garage

A fire Monday afternoon that started at a home on Cherry Street in Hollygrove spread to a two-story garage next door, creating a blaze that took more than an hour for New Orleans firefighters to bring under control, authorities said.

The fire started at a home in the 3300 block of Cherry Street shortly before 4:45 p.m., according to the New Orleans Fire Department. Firefighters were on scene within five minutes, and “found a two-story wood-framed brick veneer duplex with heavy smoke and fire coming from the rear,” the NOFD report states. “A large two-story garage located adjacent to the fire building was also on fire upon arrival.”

The report continues:

Firefighters’ first priority was to ensure that all the residents made it out of the home safely. A primary search of the building was conducted. Both apartments were occupied at the time of the fire. Fortunately all the residents were able to escape the building unharmed. Firefighters were able to aggressively attack the fire in the rear of the duplex and gain control quickly.

The fire in the garage proved to be much more stubborn. There were several contributing factors as to why this blaze was difficult to get control of. The building was assessed, and deemed not to be safe to enter. There were also very few access points for firefighters to attack the blaze from the exterior. There were a number of extremely flammable items in the garage that helped to fuel the fire. Once firefighters were able to create openings on the first floor of the structure in which they could make an exterior attack, the fire was placed under control relatively quickly.

Firefighters did a great job halting the progression of this blaze, especially considering the time of day, as well as the high temperature.

The fire was deemed under control at 6:02 p.m., and involved the work of 35 fire department personnel on 15 vehicles. The cause remains under investigation.