Photos of Alvar St. fire

All Photos by NoDef Staff

A pair of fires broke out in separate neighorhoods of New Orleans Tuesday. No one was reported injured in either blaze, according to the New Orleans Fire Department. The below-Canal blazes bookended the day with the first breaking out in the French Quarter just before 9 a.m., and the second igniting around 7 p.m. in the 9th Ward.

At 8:54am, a one-alarm electrical fire started at 317 Exchange Place in the French Quarter.  The French Quarter fire started when an electrical panel ignited at an apartment building, lighting up the two-story wood frame.

Firefighters could not gain access to the electrical panel due to fire damage at first. Fiirefighters used dry chemical extinguishers to contain the blaze until Entergy could disable electricity to the building, the New Orleans Fire Department said in a press release.

Twenty eight firefighters contained the fire in two hours. Red Cross responded to assist the two displaced residents who were not home when the fire started.

At 7:00pm, a larger fire at 1519 Alvar Street in the 9th Ward fumed a smokestack that could be scene from the French Quarter. The three-alarm scorcher started in an abandoned house, according to neighbors.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, NOFD said in a press release last night. NOFD received a 911 call from residents at 7:00pm, reporting a one-story wood-frame vacant business, according to the NOFD. The first arriving company reported a rapidly growing fire, which quickly spread to another vacant residential property.

A second and third alarm was struck for additional manpower to stop the fire from spreading to an occupied one-story wood-frame double residence. Firefighters stood on the rooftop of the occupied residence to defend the home, which received minor damage. The building where the fire began was totally consumed.

Seventy five firefighters contained the 9th Ward fire in one hour, and the Red Cross assisted one family with temporary housing.