NEW ORLEANS — A three-alarm fire at the Seabrook Harbor and Marine facility in New Orleans left a large part of the facility and several boats badly damaged Sunday morning.
There were no injuries reported.
The New Orleans Fire Department sent photos that showed flames and badly-damaged boats. A spokesman for the department said that several units responded to the scene at 5801 France Road around 5:45 a.m. and found the office building and five boats - three that were on land and two that were docked in the water - fully engulfed in flames.
The commander at the scene immediately struck a second alarm due to high winds, which had apparently caused two other boats that were quite a distance away, to catch fire.
The fire department reported no hydrants near the original scene and said that created difficulty in getting water to battle the fire. Water was eventually relayed from the canal.
Jeffery Montz, a co-owner of SeaBrook Harbor for 30 years, said that it appears the fire started in an office building that has completely burned to the ground. High winds are believed to be a factor in it quickly spreading. There is no indication as to what started the fire in the office.
"I've had better days," said Montz. "It's going to be rough, but we'll get through it. No one was hurt, thank God, so we're fine."
Five boats were heavily-damaged. Two more have minor damage. Montz said that all of the boats at the facility were either being repaired or scheduled for repairs. The owners of the boats were being contacted and some had reportedly already arrived at SeaBrook Harbor.
Twenty-one NOFD units carrying 55 firefighters were used to battle the fire. It was deemed under control around 8:15 a.m.
