Blaze broke out in a vacant, gutted building with neither electrical nor gas service
As the investigation continues into a huge weekend fire that destroyed much of a city block in New Orleans, the city's Fire Chief says it has been labeled "suspicious."
Charles Parent says the blaze broke out in a vacant, gutted building without gas or electrical service in the 3300 block of First Street.
"There was nothing really that would be a natural cause of that fire," Parent said in an interview with 995 FM. "We've got it classified as suspicious, right now."
The Saturday blaze displaced 28 persons, 18 adults and 10 children from seven families. It turned into a 6-alarm fire that was battled by 100 firefighters.
"Right now, the evidence is not pointing to anything criminal, but we've already talked with police in the area to see if they had any suspicious activity in this area before."
The chief is urging anybody who may have information to contact Crimestoppers at 822-1111.
