Officials have made an arrest in connection with the six-alarm blaze that burned several buildings on Canal St. early Wednesday morning, according to a New Orleans Fire Department press release.
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Dispatched to the corner of Canal St. and Roosevelt Way as a one-alarm at 3:23 a.m. The first NOFD companies arrived on the scene at 3:26 a.m. and found a four-story commercial structure in the river-bound 1000 block of Canal St. fully involved.
“The biggest challenge in fighting a fire in an old building like this is the structural compromise of the buildings”, he said.
Some lanes of Canal Street, which is located between the city’s central business district and the French Quarter, re-opened Wednesday evening and McConnell said streetcar traffic was resuming. Chambers said he was notified by his building engineer around 4:20 a.m. about the massive blaze and the hotel, which is almost at capacity with guests, was impacted by smoke from the fire.
One person was in the building, but escaped the flames without injury, McConnell said. He said the cause is under investigation.
The fire chief in New Orleans says the danger of a building collapse is complicating the battle against a fire that blanketed part of the downtown area in smoke.
“A fourth alarm was called for at 3:39 a.m.as the fire began to intensify, and personnel realized the high probability of the structure’s collapse”, Capt. Edwin Holmes said.
A man watches as firefighters put out a blaze on Canal Street in downtown New Orleans, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.
Nobody was injured and no evacuations were ordered, but the thick smoke prompted some nervous residents of a nearby apartment building to leave the building until they were sure they were safe.
Within an hour, the fire reached six alarms bringing more than 90 firefighters with 30 units. However, they said it is now under control.
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Fire is under control as of 11:48 a.m.
