Two Broadmoor homes engulfed in 3-alarm blaze, no injuries reported
New Orleans Fire Department battles a three-alarm blaze in an abandoned house in the 4200 block of South Rocheblave Street that spread to the neighboring apartment building on Thursday morning, September 15, 2016. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com| The Times-Picayune)
Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com and the Times-Picayune
By Emily Lane, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
updated September 15, 2016 at 12:58 PM
Two structures, including a fourplex, were severely damaged in a three-alarm fire in Broadmoor Thursday morning (Sept. 15) that send a thick blanket of smoke over much of the area but left no reported injuries, the New Orleans Fire Department said.
About 64 firefighters were still battling the blaze in the 4200 block of South Rocheblave Street around 1 p.m., more than 90 minutes after it began.
The fire started in a vacant single-family home at 4221 South Rocheblave, and quickly extended into the fourplex next door at 4217-19 South Rocheblave, said Capt. Edwin Holmes, spokesman for NOFD.
Holmes said no residents or firefighters were injured. He declined to answer questions about the cause of the fire, saying crews were still working to put it out.
Heavy smoke from the fire spread over several blocks, shrouding parts of the area as far as Napoleon Avenue. A large plume of smoke could be seen from miles away.
The fire was contained to the two structures, Holmes said, and firefighters were close to declaring it under control about noon. They were still trying to exhaust it about an hour later.
Staff writer Jonathan Bullington contributed to this report.