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Eight Killed In New Orleans Abandoned Warehouse Fire
KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS - A blaze in a small, abandoned warehouse in New Orleans killed eight homeless people who were burning wood in a barrel to stay warm, the fire department said Tuesday.
A man, left, whom fire officials say was one of two people who escaped from a fatal fire in an abandoned warehouse, seen far left, talks to a fire official in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The charred remains of an abandoned warehouse are seen after it burned, in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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A man who lives nearby said the homeless often seek refuge from the cold in the neighborhood's many boarded-up buildings. Temperatures were unusually low - just below freezing - when the fire was reported around 2 a.m.
The building was fully ablaze when the first fire truck arrived, said New Orleans Fire Department spokesman Greg Davis. Firefighters could not tell the ages or genders of the bodies pulled from the rubble. The fire also killed two dogs.
Two survivors told firefighters that at least some of the people inside were unconscious when the building went up in flames. Davis said they might have been knocked out by carbon monoxide.
"When you burn something in a closed area, you're going to build up carbon monoxide," he said.
The average low for New Orleans in late December is around 44 degrees, but freezing temperatures aren't unheard of, said National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Destri.
The survivors were a man who escaped during the fire and a woman who had left the building before it was engulfed, Red Cross worker Tom Butler said. He said both were put up at a hotel.
The man told Butler that he heard someone screaming and trying to get out. The survivor said he tried to run back into the building, but there was too much smoke. Butler said the man didn't want to be identified.
The wood and corrugated metal building burned to the foundation. It was among several ramshackle metal, brick and wooden buildings along railroad tracks where graffiti-scrawled freight cars stood.
Many of the houses nearby appeared abandoned, but at least a few were occupied.
Ricky Gordon, who lives in the working-class neighborhood in the Upper 9th Ward, said he does volunteer work with the homeless, and they often take refuge in the buildings when it gets cold.
"I took one guy in last night myself," he said.
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Associated Press writer Janet McConnaughey contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS - A blaze in a small, abandoned warehouse in New Orleans killed eight homeless people who were burning wood in a barrel to stay warm, the fire department said Tuesday.
A man, left, whom fire officials say was one of two people who escaped from a fatal fire in an abandoned warehouse, seen far left, talks to a fire official in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The charred remains of an abandoned warehouse are seen after it burned, in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Related
- STATter911: Eight Dead In New Orleans Fire
- WVUE: 8 Dead 2 Injured in Ninth Ward Blaze
- WVUE Slideshow: Abandoned Warehouse Fire
- WWLTV: At Least 8 Dead, 2 Survive
- WWLTV Gallery: Abandoned Warehouse Fire
A man who lives nearby said the homeless often seek refuge from the cold in the neighborhood's many boarded-up buildings. Temperatures were unusually low - just below freezing - when the fire was reported around 2 a.m.
The building was fully ablaze when the first fire truck arrived, said New Orleans Fire Department spokesman Greg Davis. Firefighters could not tell the ages or genders of the bodies pulled from the rubble. The fire also killed two dogs.
Two survivors told firefighters that at least some of the people inside were unconscious when the building went up in flames. Davis said they might have been knocked out by carbon monoxide.
"When you burn something in a closed area, you're going to build up carbon monoxide," he said.
The average low for New Orleans in late December is around 44 degrees, but freezing temperatures aren't unheard of, said National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Destri.
The survivors were a man who escaped during the fire and a woman who had left the building before it was engulfed, Red Cross worker Tom Butler said. He said both were put up at a hotel.
The man told Butler that he heard someone screaming and trying to get out. The survivor said he tried to run back into the building, but there was too much smoke. Butler said the man didn't want to be identified.
The wood and corrugated metal building burned to the foundation. It was among several ramshackle metal, brick and wooden buildings along railroad tracks where graffiti-scrawled freight cars stood.
Many of the houses nearby appeared abandoned, but at least a few were occupied.
Ricky Gordon, who lives in the working-class neighborhood in the Upper 9th Ward, said he does volunteer work with the homeless, and they often take refuge in the buildings when it gets cold.
"I took one guy in last night myself," he said.
___
Associated Press writer Janet McConnaughey contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Firewriter on
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Such a tragedy ...
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Permalink Reply by Patti Walz on
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My prayers for the vicitims families and their friends.
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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And where were those families and friends in the first place, on a night where temperatures were pushing below zero???? :-(
I feel more for the firefighters- what a mess....
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Permalink Reply by Edwin Gardner on
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thats not a scene any of us fireifghters would like to show up to our thoughts and prayers go out to all of them.
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Permalink Reply by Yves H Wild JR on
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I live in Alaska (winter temps can dip to -55 and lower). We have homeless shelters because as you can imagine people freeze to death in the winter. These people choose to stay outside even though the have loved ones free shelters and or friends they could stay with. I have seen and treated all kinds of homeless people Vets, Teenagers ect. all who have resources available to them but for pride, sickness, ETOH, drugs, or who knows why, they choose to live on the streets. Homeless people still have loved ones, family friends and so forth, So yes my prayers and thoughts go out to my brother Firefighters and also the loved ones and families of those lost.
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Permalink Reply by Doug on
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Small world... it turns out a friend of mine knows at least two of the deceased.
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