Five people were displaced after a three-apartment house on State Street caught fire overnight, New Orleans firefighters said Thursday morning. A firefighter was injured while battling the blaze.
The fire at 2433-35 State Street was reported at 12:55 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, and the first firefighters arrived six minutes later to find a two-story masonry veneer multi-unit residence fully engulfed in heavy smoke and fire.
The fire had already spread to the second floor of the residence. All three apartments were occupied at the time of the fire, but the residents were able to escape the building unharmed. A total of five residents were displaced.
Due to the size and scope of the fire, a second alarm was called at 1:04 a.m.
Firefighters immediately attacked the fire from what appeared to be its point of origin in the first-floor garage. In the garage, a firefighter stepped into a hole in the floor filled with scalding hot water and suffered minor burns to his leg. He was treated by New Orleans Emergency Medical Services and remained on the scene until the fire was extinguished.
Crews began to fight the fire from above as well to stop it from spreading any further. The firefighters were able to keep it contain the fire to the original building.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. The New Orleans Police Department, New Orleans EMS, the American Red Cross and Entergy were assisting at the scene. Seventeen NOFD units carrying 48 fire operations personnel brought the fire under control at 2:24 a.m.
