NOFD battles three-alarm fire at former Algiers school

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - New Orleans firefighters battled a three-alarm fire Monday afternoon (Feb. 6) at a former school in Algiers.

The blaze broke out around 3:38 p.m. in the structure that formerly housed the Henderson Elementary School and then the Hope Academy, at 1912 L.B. Landry Blvd., the New Orleans Fire Department said.

The building was in the process of being repurposed into affordable housing units, the NOFD said. But welding contractors told firefighters they accidentally set the structure on fire while attempting to cut steel beams in the ceiling.

Firefighters were on scene within five minutes of the first call, and sounded a second alarm just six minutes later, after being met with heavy smoke and flames coming out of the building’s right side.

NOFD crews had to force entry through multiple doors and windows to extinguish the fire and search for persons possibly trapped inside. They sounded a third alarm to bring more relief personnel to the mitigation effort at 4:14 p.m. The fire was finally brought under control at 4:38 p.m., the NOFD said.

It took 21 NOFD units carrying 59 firefighters to extinguish the blaze, but no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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