public safety

Five-alarm fire breaks out in Lower Garden District short-term rental

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Tourists staying in the Lower Garden District noticed smoke coming from the air-conditioning vents of their Magazine Street short-term rental around noon on Friday (Sept. 1). The New Orleans Fire Department arrived at 12:05 p.m. and found smoke coming from the HVAC vents on the second floor. There were no visible flames in the three-story wood framed building, according to the NOFD. The fire eventually broke through the walls on the second floor and extended through the roof of the third floor.

public safety

Seven people displaced in Hollygrove fire that engulfed three homes

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Seven Hollygrove residents, including four children, were displaced Monday (July 24) in a fire that severely damaged three houses. Firefighters withstood temperatures in the mid-90s to extinguish the three-alarm fire. One firefighter was injured while battling the blaze. 

The first New Orleans Fire Department unit arrived at 3:31 p.m. Firefighters found the single shotgun at 1825 Hollygrove engulfed in flames that threatened the building to its left. A search of the building found no one inside, and neighbors confirmed that the residents, three children and one adult, were not at home when the fire broke out. A second alarm was requested at 3:40 p.m. as the fire quickly spread to an unoccupied double under renovation a few feet away, at 1831-33 Hollygrove, and an occupied single-family home at 8926 Cohn St.

public safety

Firefighters battle Carrollton Avenue blaze under scorching temps

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With mid-day temperatures approaching triple digits on Sunday (July 2), the New Orleans Fire Department battled both the mid-day heat and two separate two-alarm fires. The first occurred in an occupied two-story commercial building on South Carrollton Avenue in Gert Town. A 911 call alerted at 1:31 p.m. alerted first-responders to the fire. After being dispatched to 3625 S. Carrollton Ave., NOFD Fire Operations personnel were confronted with a working fire involving two separate businesses, Mobile Tint and Audio auto window tinting service on the first floor and Lovely Nails salon on the second floor. Firefighters had to force entry into the building through first-floor front glass doors and a rear metal door to battle the fire.

Fire erupts in a University area apartment building

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A one-alarm fire broke out Monday night (April 10) in a house at 825 Hillary St., according to the New Orleans Fire Department and University area neighbors. The property is being developed as student housing, documents filed with the city indicate. Owner Preston Tedesco, a doubles-to-dorms developer, submitted a non-conforming use request in 2021, asking to create five apartments in the building at that address. An LLC that Town of Carrollton Watch has linked to Tedesco and developer John Hamide bought the 2,200-square-foot building building in 2020 from Riverlake Properties for $1 million, according to the Assessor’s Office. The owner was cited for working without a permit in early 2021.

Uncategorized

Fire in vacant Central City house damages nearby buildings, displaces residents

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Eight people were displaced Saturday by a fire that started in a neighboring abandoned property. New Orleans firefighters responded to a 911 call reporting a fire at 2708-10 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The first NOFD company arrived at 1:17 p.m. to find a one-story, wood-framed double shotgun heavily involved in flames. The flames were spreading to neighboring properties, so the firefighters  struck a second alarm. The neighbors had evacuated their homes before the first unit arrived.

fire

Man dies inside burning Central City apartment building

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A man died Friday (Feb. 17) inside a burning Central City apartment building, the New Orleans Fire Department reported. Firefighters were called to a fire in the 2000 block of Simon Bolivar Boulevard at about 12:30 p.m.  They found an occupied seven-unit two-story apartment building, in the rear of shotgun style apartments, heavily engulfed in flames. The fire had already extended to the second floor and through the roof. While putting out the fire, the firefighters found a man’s body in a bedroom.

crime

Death in burning ‘man cave’ shed ruled a homicide

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Firefighters made a tragic discovery on Jan. 15 while extinguishing a one-alarm fire in the Leonidas neighborhood: Larry Williams, 64, was found dead inside a burning shed. The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office made another discovery during Williams’ autopsy: The cause of death was not smoke inhalation. Williams had been shot to death. “Based on this development, the signal for this incident has been changed to a homicide,” the New Orleans Police Department confirmed Thursday (Jan.

fire

Man dies inside burning ‘man cave’ shed

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A man died Sunday evening (Jan. 15) while trapped inside a burning shed behind a Leonidas house, the New Orleans Fire Department reported. 
A resident of the home told the NOFD that he and his friend used the shed as a “man cave” and had been watching a game inside. The resident had gone in the home, smelled smoke and called 911. 
At about 7:45 p.m., the Fire Department received the call of a fire in a one-story wood-frame house at 9042 Cohn St. When they arrived, they found a wooden shed aflame. The fire had spread to the house, and responders were receiving reports of a person trapped inside the home. 
The searched the house and found no one inside.

Christmas Eve fire breaks out in Irish Channel home

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A two-alarm fire damaged an Irish Channel home on Christmas Eve, the New Orleans Fire Department reported. Firefighters rescued a dog from the home, the NOFD said. No one else was at home when the fire broke out. The New Orleans Fire Department arrived at 2710 Constance St. at 6:26 p.m. on Saturday (Dec.

fire

Fire breaks out in Audubon Street apartment building on Thanksgiving morning

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A fire broke out in a University area apartment building on Thanksgiving morning (Nov. 24), the New Orleans Fire Department reported.  The building’s tenants had all escaped safely before the NOFD arrived. Flames were coming out of a third floor window when firefighters arrived at 624 Audubon St. at about 10:50 a.m. They searched the building to make sure all occupants had evacuated, while other firefighters attacked the blaze from the inside to get ahead of the fire. The third-floor attic apartments, including the unit where the fire had started, were occupied on Thursday morning.