A two-alarm blaze ripped through an apartment building at 618 Fern Street in New Orleans yesterday afternoon. The New Orleans Fire Department rushed to the scene after the 911 call came in at precisely 3:19 p.m., and they wasted no time, arriving just seven minutes later, as their first fire unit reached the building at 3:26 p.m. Flames and smoke were reportedly pouring from the back of the three-plex as firefighters arrived, a sight that, thankfully, did not involve harm to residents as the building had been evacuated already, according to the City of New Orleans.
Upon assessing the scene, the personnel, while battling the blaze, identified that the fire was contained within two rooms of a second-floor apartment, though it had begun to spread into the attic. The intensity of the fire necessitated additional support, resulting in firefighters calling a second alarm at approximately 3:40 p.m. The fire was eventually subdued and declared under control at 4:07 p.m., as noted in a by the City of New Orleans press release. The New Orleans Fire Department sent a large response, with 18 units and 47 firefighters working to put out the fire.
