Two Rescued at LA House Fire

Dec. 9—One by one, New Orleans firefighters carried the limp bodies of 12 cats out of an Esplanade Avenue apartment building that was billowing smoke on Thursday morning. Burly firefighters placed oxygen masks on their tiny faces in a bid to save them.

Yet despite a long resuscitation effort on the Esplanade neutral ground, all 12 cats perished in a fire that also left two humans suffering from smoke inhalation, the New Orleans Fire Department said.

The fire was reported about 8:21 a.m. inside a two-story, wood-framed building at 1833 Esplanade Ave. that contains three apartments.

Firefighters arrived by 8:27 a.m. and rescued two men trapped on a rear balcony. One of them was the building's owner, a cat-lover who told the firefighters that many animals remained inside.

'Another one!'

At 8:42 a.m., firefighters propped a ladder against the building, climbed up to a balcony and used a hook to break a second-floor window. Then the firefighters brought the unconscious cats out of the building one after another, to astonished gasps from bystanders.

"Another one!" a woman shouted as a firefighter brought the eighth cat out of the building.

At the same time, a paramedic was administering aid to one of the men who had been rescued from the building, on the steps of the residence next door. One resident was treated for smoke inhalation on scene, and another was transported to the hospital, according to the New Orleans Fire Department.

The fire was declared under control at 8:49 a.m. Firefighters administered the cats oxygen using special miniature masks designed for pets, and massaged their bodies well into the next hour in an attempt to save them, but those efforts proved futile.

Fire Superintendent Roman Nelson said the building's owner told them the cats were a mix of his own pets and feral cats visiting the building.

The fire began in an upstairs bedroom of a front apartment. Its cause is under investigation, the Fire Department said.

The NOFD is one of several area fire departments equipped with the special pet-sized masks. Those masks have previously been used to successfully save a cat after another fire in the 7th Ward.

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