Christmas Eve fires keep Slidell firefighters busy

St. Tammany News

All was not calm for Fire District One firefighters Christmas Eve with four blazes that ranged from an oven fire to a burning motel room.

Two of the fires involving an abandoned house and an empty house trailer are under investigation. During the house fire, one firefighter sustained first-degree burns to his shoulder, according to Fire Prevention Chief Neil Ricca.

The first fire call came at 10 a.m., and firefighters quickly contained a cooking fire to the oven with no injuries or damage to an apartment in the Westchester Apartments on Pontchartrain Drive.

Then things got a bit tougher. At 1 p.m. Monday, firefighters responded to a fire at 4707 Willow St. in the River Gardens subdivision. When they arrived on the scene, they found a two-story house fully engulfed in flames. The heat from the fire melted the siding on the next door trailer.

Ricca said the house was totally destroyed, and firefighters spent most of their time trying to keep the fire from spreading to the trailer and other houses.

One of the firefighters sustained a first-degree burn to his shoulder because of the heat.

"He was burned through his protective gear, that's how hot the fire was," Ricca said.

The firefighter was treated and released, Ricca said, and in good condition.

The house fire is under investigation as to the cause because the utilities were off and the house was not occupied.

Firefighters are also investigating a fire that destroyed a house trailer on Front Street between Eighth and Aviotor streets. The call came in at 4 p.m., and firefighters found an abandoned trailer fully involved in flames when they arrived. The trailer was totally destroyed, Ricca said. Like the Willow Street fire, there were no occupants and the utilities were off, and the fire department is investigating the cause of the fire.

Then at 8:30 p.m. firefighters got a call of a room fire at the La Quinta Hotel at 794 E. I-10 Service Road. Firefighters found room 125 engulfed in flames and were able to contain the fire to one room because of a quick response time. Ricca said fire engines were on the scene in five minutes.

The hotel guests were evacuated, but there were no injuries.

Ricca said the fire started in an electrical outlet near the heater in the room. He believes it was either an overloaded circuit or a short circuit that started the fire. No one was in the room at the time of the fire.

The room sustained extensive damage, Ricca said, but the guests were allowed back in and the hotel is open.

It was not the Christmas Eve that firefighters expected, but Ricca said that is why they have to be on the alert all the time.

"We really earned our money on that shift," Ricca said.