[StBernard] Fires reported at two Chalmette homes<br>

[Westley Annis]

This was posted on nola and while later corrected the actual response time
was 4 minutes,  the message is clear: Our Community Needs Jacob Drive
Firestation - We Shouldnt Sell It to the Refinery !  We also need the
refinery to repair the damage their remediation and demolition crews did to
Despaux Drive.  SJK

posted on nola: 

Before any of you go off on me, I'm not putting down the fire department. I
know the Chief and a lot of the firemem. They do a great job. They did a
great job on this fire.

The fire this morning shows the need to keep the Jacob Fire Station (and all
others open). The neighbor that was fighting the fire and trying to keep it
from spreading to his house said it took 15 minutes for them to get there.
With all of the pot holes, sunken streets and the big barricade smack in the
middle of Despaux at Missouri, no wonder it took them so long to get there.
This is directly behing the Murphy buyout area that has been so torn up by
all of their demolition work.
 
The vinyl on his house was starting to melt and certainly would have caught
if it had taken any longer. The fire department commended him for doing a
good job in preventing the spread. The fire department did a good job of
getting it under and control and out quickly.

Now, imagine if the Parish Government had succeeded in their little known
plan to sell the Jacob fire station to Murphy. Then, the nearest operating
stations would have been Violet or Packenham. How many more homes could have
been lost if they had to come from that far away?

This tragic fire only confirms the need to rebuild and operate ALL fire
stations. If the plan surfaces again (and it will) to sell the Jacob station
to Murphy, please join and help oppose it. Remember, they could try and sell
the one in your area next.

The house you save may be your own! 

-----Original Message-----
Fires reported at two Chalmette homes
Posted by St. Bernard bureau October 31, 2007 10:04AM
Two Chalmette houses being rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina caught fire in
separate incidents Wednesday, authorities said. 

Repair work at one of the homes, 3917 Despaux Drive, was nearly complete,
St. Bernard Parish Fire Department officials said. Wednesday's fire caused
extensive damage, Deputy Chief Glenn Ellis said. 

The other house that caught fire, at 2113 Congressman Hebert St., received
less damage when it caught fire, Ellis said. 


Ellis said the Despaux Drive fire was reported at 5:23 a.m. and quickly went
to two alarms. It was fully involved when firefighters arrived. 

"The house was under construction. It was almost finished and it looked like
the family was about to move back in,'' Ellis said. 

The cause is under investigation, but Ellis said investigators think it
might have been electrical. No one was hurt and firefighters were able to
prevent the blaze from spreading to occupied homes next door, Ellis said. 

The fire on Congressman Hebert was reported at 9:33 a.m. The interior of a
wall caught fire when a plumber was using a torch to sweat pipes, Ellis
said. 

No one was hurt. Damage was isolated to the wall, he said. 

Ellis said it's disheartening for residents returning to the parish to
suffer such setbacks. 

"It's devastating,'' he said. "We're all going through this. It's terrible
to see something like this happen.''