Nearly forty firefighters battled four alarm fire in Houma

At approximately 5:22pm on Wednesday October 5, 2022 the City of Houma Fire Department was dispatched to a reported structure fire in the 8300 block of East Main Street in Houma. This area is located near the foot of the twin span overpasses on the east side. At the time of dispatch the HFD Training Officer was also crossing the twin span headed east. He simultaneously reported that this was a major working fire over the fire department radio system. At 5:23 he initiated a 2nd alarm response, as heavy fire was visible and involved approximately 30% of the structure.

A second alarm brings all on duty Houma Fire Department crews to the scene. Which includes Ladder 1, Engine 2, Ladder 3 , and Engine 4 as well as the supervising District Chief. Once the Training Officer arrived onscene and made a quick assessment of the situation. The fire was observed in a large older style home with multiple obstacles spread all around the structure and a large commercial structure was in close proximity on the Bravo side (south)of the fire building and was exposed to the extreme heat being produced by the well advanced fire. This exposure building was beginning to show signs of heat related damages and had the high probability of catching fire should actions not be taken. A 3rd alarm at 5:27pm due to the rapid progress of the fire and potential of spread to the second structure.

A third alarm brings two fire apparatus Truck 33 and Truck 44 and a Battalion Chief from Bayou Cane FPD to the scene. All the while Fire and Police officers made contact with the owner of the home and it was reported that none one was in the structure. So a rescue was not warrented at that time.

Initial apparatus were now beginning to arrive onscene at the time of the 3rd alarm and crews focused on protecting the exposure building on the Bravo side. A second HFD apparatus also arrived and made a blitz type attack with it’s top mounted deck gun to get a quick knockdown of the heavy fire showing out of the front (A-Side) of the home. A hydrant was being simultaneously hooked up to each of these apparatus to help in those efforts. Crews were able to get a bulk of the fire knocked down in this initial push on the front porch area but there was still plenty of fire burning within the home which was not easily accessible. The home was heavily packed with various items stored throughout the structure. Normal interior access was tough as the home was approximately 3 foot off the ground and the front porch cover had collapsed blocking window and door accessibility as well as the fire burning through the floor board’s on the porch.

Two, 2.5 inch attack lines were deployed as well as some smaller more maneuverable attack lines in an attempt to get the fire under control. Manpower was being depleted quickly as there was lots of fire still burning in the large overpacked structure. Incident commanders made the decision to strike a 4th alarm which called upon Bourg, Montegut, Little Caillou and Dularge Fire departments as well as make a special request for an air filling station from Montegut Fire Department be brought to the scene. Village East and Grand Caillou Fire Departments are specifically not called to the scene as they are utilized help to cover and respond to other emergencies on the East side of Houma should another emergency arise. Which one did occur while HFD was on this call.

Crews also made entry into the exposed building to verify the fire had not spread to the adjacent structures. Those buildings were deemed clear. After some time of limited fire attack the call was made to deploy 2 ground monitors, one to each side of the home to get the fire on the interior under control. Houma Police Department officers assisted greatly in helping bring various pieces equipment needed onscene from the multiple fire apparatus parked around the scene to accomplish this task.

At 6:43pm the fire was deemed under control but crews were still working on extinguishing hot spots throughout.

Crews worked for several hours and at 10:14 pm the scene was turned over to the owner. Investigators from Houma Fire Department and Bayou Cane FPD worked during the extinguishment process to investigate the cause of the fire. At this time the fire is still understand investigation and we will update as more information becomes available.

No injuries were reported at this call and at it’s peak approximately 40 firefighters were on the scene working to extinguish the fire or work in some sort of support capacity. We would like to thank the Bayou Cane Fire Protection District , Bourg Volunteer Fire Department , Little Caillou Fire Dept , Montegut Fire Department , Dularge Volunteer Fire Department , Acadian Ambulance, City of Houma Electric Department, Village East Volunteer Fire Department , Houma Police Department and as always the dispatchers from Terrebonne Parish Communications District E-911 for helping us to bring this incident to a safe conclusion.