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.

fire

Two dogs, three cats rescued in Irish Channel fire that displaces three households

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Two dogs and three cats were rescued from a burning triplex in the Irish Channel on Thursday (Oct. 6), the New Orleans Fire Department reported. The fire displaced three residents. Firefighters were called to the wood-frame building at 822-28 Toledano at 12:39 p.m. Nine units with 29 firefighters arrived at 12:44 p.m. and found a blaze extending from the attic of 822 Toledano. It quickly spread through the attic to the other units.

fire

Austerlitz Baptist Church heavily damaged in fire

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A three-alarm fire broke out in the Austerlitz Baptist Church on Friday morning (Sept. 9), the New Orleans Fire Department reported. Firefighters arrived at 9:24 a.m. to find heavy smoke billowing from the rear of the church at 819 Austerlitz St., a block from Magazine Street in the Touro-Bouligny neighborhood. Two people said saw a “ball of fire” coming from a pipe when they turned on the lights, the NOFD said. The fire climbed through the walls into the attic.

fire

Early morning fire displaces three Jena Street residents

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A fire in the 1800 block of Jena Street displaced three people early Sunday (Aug. 28), the New Orleans Fire Department reported. A 911 call reported the fire at 5:10 a.m. The NOFD arrived at the scene and found flames emanating from the rear of single-story shotgun double at 1818-20 Jena Street. The residents had all evacuated safely. The firefighters determined that the blaze began in a backyard shed and quickly spread to the house.