The 800 block of Decatur St. will be temporarily closed until all structural mitigation has been completed and the area is safe for pedestrians and vehicular traffic
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Fire Department responded to two separate partial building collapse incidents in the French Quarter on Sunday.
NOFD was on the scene after a balcony on a French Quarter building partially collapsed at 823 Decatur St. around 12:11 p.m.
WWL Louisiana was on the scene and found the balcony to the vacant building of the former Tujaque’s Restaurant on the corner of Decatur and Madison Street.
A witness, Abraham Timontel, who works at the business across from the building, told WWL that he saw the balcony wobbling for about two hours before a strong wind blew in and the balcony came crashing down to the street below.
Construction contractors on the scene told firefighters that a “trash chute being used by contractors separated from the building” and caused the second-floor balcony and the railing attached to it to fall onto the street and sidewalk, a release said.
The balcony appeared to have been under renovation at the time of the collapse.
Then around 1:12 p.m. fire crews were called to 2019 Frenchmen St, where a single-story, wood-framed building had partially collapsed. NOFD said the report notified crews that people were possibly trapped inside the home.
They said the building was dilapidated and the right exterior of the wall separated from the building and fell onto an “occupied double at 2011-13 Frenchman St.”
Neighbors said three adults and one dog was living in the home, however the home “had been in a state of disrepair since Hurricane Katrina,” NOFD said.
At the time of the collapse, only the dog was inside of the home, was rescued and is safe.
The Department of Code Enforcement was called to the scene to determine further mitigation.
No injuries were reported in both incidents.
The 800 block of Decatur St. will be temporarily closed until all structural mitigation has been completed and the area is safe for pedestrians and vehicular traffic.
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