NEW ORLEANS — At least seven residents are displaced after a fire broke out in the Lower Garden District, according to the New Orleans Fire Department.
The first started just before 2 p.m. in the back of a two-story building on Hastings Place, then spread to three other buildings, NOFD said.
Businesses near Magazine and Felicity were some of the first to notice.
“We saw it jump from one house to the other," Shawn Dubin said. “We already heard the sirens coming, and then we saw the police show up and the fire within minutes.”
Authorities blocked off the busy stretch of Magazine Street for more than four hours. Some businesses closed early.
More than 70 firefighters responded.
NOFD Capt. Edwin Holmes said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
“Taken into the account the size of these residences, and the size of this fire", Holmes said. "We’re going to have NOFD fire operations personnel probably on the scene through the night, checking for hot spots, making sure everything is extinguished because the last thing you want to do is come back out to an incident," he said.
It took crews nearly three hours to get the fire under control. One firefighter burned a hand, and another was cut, according to NOFD.
Thankfully, NOFD reports that all residents got out safely.
American Red Cross was on the scene to assist those who were displaced.
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