Ten New Orleans firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation and exhaustion after having to carry gear up 24 stories to battle a fire at the top of a Poydras Street hotel.
"NOFD received a 911 call reporting smoke permeating the Le Meridien Hotel at 333 Poydras Street," Operator Louis Carrier said in a news release. "The first New Orleans Fire Department company arrived on the scene of a twenty-four story hotel at 4:07 p.m."
He says much of the building and its stairwells were consumed with smoke.
"Firefighters immediately began working with hotel staff to evacuate the building of it guests... Power to the building and its’ elevators was shut off which forced firefighters to climb all twenty-four flights of stairs to investigate and find the source of the fire."
He says it was not easy to battle the blaze so high up and without the benefit of elevators.
The 410 room hotel was approximately 95% occupied.
"The New Orleans Fire Department committed a total of 21 units and 82 fire suppression personnel in its efforts to evacuate the hotel and extinguish the fire."
It took about three hours before they declared the fire was under control.
"The cause is still under investigation."
Officials were working to find other places for all of the guests to stay and find them clothing and other essentials they were forced to leave behind in their rooms.
