New Orleans firefighters at building fire on Canal Street
There was one person reported inside of the building when the fire began, but he was able to escape, according to McConnell, who said he did not believe the fire was suspicious.
Todd Chambers, the general manager of the Roosevelt Hotel, said the hotel is “almost adjacent to where the fire happened”.
“Due to an extraordinary response by the firefighters, this catastrophic fire that had the potential to turn deadly was contained”.
Miller said motorists should use Poydras Street if they need to head riverbound in the CBD as Canal Street remains closed as crews continue to work the fire.
The top three floors of the building were empty.
They were awakened by a fire alarm their building around 3:30 a.m. The businesses were heavily damaged and unlikely to reopen anytime soon, he said.
One firefighter suffered burn injuries to his hand, but there no reports of other injuries in the incident.
Neighbors Michael Mallin and Kate Otto live in an apartment across the street from the burning building. “We got here, we started making pizzas and bringing them to our first responders, feeding them, you know giving them some energy, some food, and some support”.
The New Orleans Fire Department, the bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, and the Louisiana State Fire Marshal discovered Denley started a fire in the alcove of a business to try to stay warm. It’s near upscale apartment buildings and the Orpheum and the Saenger, ornate early 20th century theaters that were restored to their earlier grandeur after Hurricane Katrina.
“This is clearly, it’s disastrous, certainly for these property owners, and it’s going to set us back a little bit downtown with the streets being closed and so forth”, said Kurt Weigel with the Downtown Development District.