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New Orleans On Fire for Two Days
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Fires batter hurricane-weakened New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2006
Firefighters Saturday were battling a major blaze just a short distance away from the firehouse where King Abdullah II of Jordan had concluded his tour of the hurricane-ravaged city the night before.
Firefighters were dispatched to the fire in a residential neighborhood early Saturday.
Eleven people were left homeless after escaping a burning apartment building where the fire reportedly had originated.
It was the second major blaze in the city in as many days. No injuries were reported in either blaze.
On Friday the city's historic Coliseum movie theater, built in 1915, burned to the ground in the Lower Garden District neighborhood.
Firefighters in both blazes were hampered by low water pressure, a recurring problem since Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, fracturing underground waterlines.
In both blazes, helicopters dropped orange baskets filled with 800 gallons (3,636 liters) of water onto the blaze, a technique firefighters have had to use in areas lacking sufficient water pressure after Katrina.
The choppers then returned to hover over the Mississippi River to scoop up fresh supplies of water.
In Saturday's fire, the apartment building was engulfed in flames and rolling white smoke. Whipped by winds, the fire leapt to cars parked on the street, setting the vehicles ablaze.
Firefighters were fighting to keep the blaze from consuming nearby houses and apartment buildings.
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