The insane weather currently being experienced in the United States has gotten way out of hand. To prove this, a homeless man from New Orleans was arrested today after he set a fire that engulfed a building in flames. This all happened in the historic Canal Street.
Darren Denley tried to keep himself warm by setting up a fire. Unfortunately, the 25-year-old left the fire unchecked for over a couple of hours. The fire was set in a largely empty four-story building before it spread to the building next to it. As Fox 8 Live reported, an employee from another building noticed the fire when a window broke. After this, he rushed to report the incident to the New Orleans Fire Department. Police officers and firefighters rushed to the scene and closed the street.
The incident started at 3:30 am, Wednesday. By daybreak, the flames were no longer as visible and were replaced by the smoke. Despite this, firefighters kept pouring steady streams of water onto the affected buildings from a ladder truck parked on the street. By noon, they declared that the fire was under control and the lanes were reopened by Wednesday evening. The ground-floor businesses in the building were "heavily damaged" by the fire. Thankfully, there were no injuries reported and no ordered evacuations.
Fire Chief Timothy McConnell praised the quick response of the firefighters for otherwise containing what could have quickly become a fatal and catastrophic fire. He pleaded to homeless men to seek warmth and shelter in any of the numerous shelter facilities available throughout the city instead of setting a fire.
Investigators are currently studying the stability of the structure as well as any damages that could stem from rerouting the upcoming 12-day series of Mardi Gras parades, especially since these will start on Friday. The area of the street were the fire started is typically closed during the parade.
Denley was arrested for setting the fire and crossing police lines.
