NEW ORLEANS — It took the New Orleans Fire Department more than six hours and 80 firefighters to stop a massive fire at the Quarter House hotel near Charters and Canal Streets.
Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell confirms the fire started shortly before 8, Thursday night on the fifth floor of the historic set of buildings that makeup the hotel.
WWL-TV drone showed substantial fire damage to the roof and several holes where the building caved in during the blaze.
“The firefighters got here and they fought very hard up on that fifth floor and the fire was contained,” McConnell said. “All the fire damage was contained to that fifth floor in the attic.”
According to Chief McConnell, two firefighters hospitalized for smoke inhalation are now being treated at University Medical Center and are in good condition.
One of the firefighters got separated from his crew, but managed to find his way to a front window.
“The one that gave us the biggest pause was the one we couldn’t find for a little while and he made his way to that window,” McConnell said. “Good, keeping his head about him, staying calm and getting to where he could be found and rescued.”
All of the hotel guests managed to escape without injury.
They spent the day collecting their belongings.
One of the guests, Devin Sebastian, 56, from Amarillo, Texas has terminal liver cancer and six weeks to live.
Visiting New Orleans was on her bucket list.
Her friend Susan Allen said a hotel employee and firefighters managed to retrieve Sebastian’s medicine.
“Scott got that(medicine) out last night and brought it to us,” Allen said. “It saved the evening. She’s on hospice so, so were not able to get anything. Him going back up and getting that stuff allowed us to make it through the night.”
Sebastian is now resting at another hotel.
Friday, a worker also found her ring.
“This is actually my friend Devin’s wedding band,” Allen said. “Her husband passed away 5 years ago. So, they’re honest.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Firefighters managed to get the blaze under control before it spread to adjacent buildings.
“It always puts a lump in your throat whenever you hear a fire in the quarter start to escalate and this was an example of how difficult it is,” McConnell said.
Chief McConnell said a state police drone with infrared technology helped firefighters locate hot spots as they battled the hotel fire.
As for Sebastian and her friends, they are heading back to Texas on Saturday.
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