4-Alarm Fire Ravages New Orleans Strip Mall

NEW ORLEANS --

New Orleans firefighters spent Monday night battling two fires, including one that ravaged an abandoned strip mall in New Orleans East.

A fire department representative said 60 firemen and 24 units were called to Read Boulevard at Morrison Road, where a four-alarm blaze tore through a shopping center and caused its roof to collapse.

The heat scorched the garage of a home near the strip mall, officials said.

No injuries were reported, and there's no word on the cause of the fire.

In Gert Town, a two-alarm fire broke out in an abandoned home near the corner of Pine Street and Earhart Boulevard.

One person was inside the house but escaped safely. Officials said they believe he was living in the house even though it was abandoned.

No one was injured.