NEW ORLEANS — Gabriel Shaffer had just gone back inside from watching Krewe du Vieux when he says he saw the bright light from a flame thrower out his back window.
According to police this happened Saturday evening in the 900 block of Royal St.
“It was dumb and disrespectful at the same time in my head,” said Shaffer.
The New Orleans fire code states a permit is needed for the use of any “open flame device” for display, entertainment, amusement or non-food warming purposes. The gallery owner who posted the video to his Instagram says he wished he would have gone over to tell them to stop, but he froze in disbelief of what he was witnessing.
“There was a lot of obvious flaws in the logic that was happening there…let alone the disrespect to the block,” said Shaffer.
“It doesn’t land well with me at all,” said Angie Bowlin who is a part of the neighborhood association French Quarter Citizens.
She says the delicate nature of the historic buildings leaves them very vulnerable to fires.
“If you catch something on fire there’s a very good chance that it’s not going to be just that something, you’re going to take down an entire block or maybe even the entire French Quarter,” she said.
You can see by the singed leaves of a fern hanging from the balcony where the flames touched just how close they got to a catastrophic accident.
And judging by Mayor Cantrell’s reaction when we told her what happened, this is something the city will be taking seriously.
“That’s the last place they need to do that,” said Mayor Cantrell.
At the time of Monday’s Mardi Gras safety meeting neither she nor NOFD Fire Chief Roman Nelson knew anything about what happened.
He too acknowledged the dangers, “Definitely on a balcony in the quarter is just not a good idea and probably illegal I would think,” said Chief Nelson.
The combination of potential illegality and danger is why Shaffer says he wants those responsible to be held accountable. He says he understands people’s need to “release” but not this way, not in this town and not right now considering everything else New Orleans is going through.
“I think all of us want to see this city happy and healthy and sustainable and successful again. So what’s that [phrase] don’t push us ‘cuz we’re close to the edge”
We are all trying not to lose our heads.
We reached out to the Louisiana State Fire Marshal who also hadn’t seen the video until we showed them.
A representative with the office said, “the image you have provided definitely leaves us with concerns about this activity being in compliance with the fire code.”
The State Fire Marshal’s office will be launching an investigation into the matter.