73-year-old woman living alone with no electricity dies in house fire, family says
A 73-year-old woman was killed when a fire ripped through her home in New Orleans on Sunday, Dec. 18, city fire officials and local news outlets reported.
Neighbors called 911 around 7:15 p.m. after they saw the blaze and heard shouts coming from inside the home on Serantine Street, according to Nola.com.
The woman, who wasn’t named, lived alone and her home had been without power since Hurricane Zeta pummeled southeast Louisiana in 2020, relatives told WDSU. The home also didn’t have any smoke alarms.
Crews arrived to find the front of the single-story brick home consumed by flames that had spread to the attic, New Orleans fire officials said. Firefighters had to force their way inside by cutting bars and security chains that were on the front door, according to WVUE.
The woman died at the scene, fire officials said.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
McClatchy News reached out to the New Orleans Fire Department on Dec. 19 and was awaiting a response.