Update: 10:04am
A stubborn four-alarm fire has gone to a fifth alarm as New Orleans firefighters say the blaze has extended into the walls of a building stretching along Conti Street from Bourbon to the Hotel Le Marais mid-block on Conti.
According to New Orleans Fire Department Captain Edwin Holmes, two employees of the Oceana Grill suffering from smoke inhalation were transported by State Police officers to a hospital for treatment.
"The fire is inbetween the walls of 725 and 739 Conti. It has extended up into the floors up to the common roofline which extends all the way from 725 to 739 to the corner of Bourbon," Captain Holmes said.
Three very well known nightspots and restaurants are affected: The Oceana Grill, Old N'Awlins Cookery and The Copper Monkey Bar and Grill. Above these establishments are a number of condominiums occuping the top floor of the building. It is not known if these condos were equipped with fire sprinklers.
Holmes says they have a good idea where the fire started, but would not comment on the location or what started the fire until the investigation takes place.
The fire broke out and was reported just before 7am and was initially two alarms. It quickly went to four-alarms, and within two hours five alarm, given the extention of the fire into the walls of the building and migration into the upper floors and roofline.
More than 21 units have responded to the scene.
The Hotel Le Marais, right next door to the Copper Monkey, was evacuated as heavy smoke in the area was effecting the hotel. According to Fire Deparment spokesman Louis Carrier the firewall in place between the Copper Monkey and Le Marais was keeping the fire from spreading to the hotel.