New Orleans Fires

[Justin Turcotte]

There were several structures burning on one of the aerial shots earlier today. There shouldn't be any electrical power in the city to spark these though I suppose there could still be some residual charge here or there. One of the fires was at a pawn shop that did not appear to be flooded. Makes me wonder if there is some arson going on. There is always the possibility of candles causing problems. I would think anyone living in NOLA would have flood insurance but if not a simple torching would allow collection of home owners insurance. There is a lot of gasoline in the water but hopefully limited enough to not create an even greater threat.

[Jeff Snyder]

On a related note, CNN did say the city of New Orleans is under Martial Law right now... Perhaps the city leaders suspected some of these fires were indeed arsons, thus a contributing factor for martial law.

[David Wolfson]

Broken gas lines and open pilot lights are a culprit, I'd guess.

[Rob_Davis]

Broken gas lines and open pilot lights are a culprit, I'd guess.
Good point. So many of us have spent our lives living in total electric houses that we tend to forget about the gas factor.

[Miriam Lawrence]

Mayor Nagin alluded specifically to gas leaks and fires in his very somber WWL interview last night. Transcript of those comments:

"We have gas leaks that have sprouted out throughout the city, and even when they're underwater, they have.... you will see water, and a flame shooting out of the water. It's pretty much, you know, not a pretty picture."

http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmP...082905mayor.wmv (http://www.wwltv.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=www.wwltv.com/082905mayor.wmv)