Beloved St. Tammany Parish fire chief dies at age 50

A Beloved St. Tammany Parish fire chief has died after suffering a series of strokes. District Chief Carroll P Poche III, age 50, was taken off of life support after spending several days in a hospital receiving care. His department, St. Tammany Fire District 9, posted a heartbreaking and heartfelt message on Sunday (May 22). “Carroll was only 50 years old but lived a wonderful life, and more importantly, made others’ lives better,” the message said. “He constantly gave of himself to whoever needed his assistance. He never said no and he was a tremendous force in all our lives.” Poche served as the fire chief of District 9, which serves the Bush and Sun areas, for over 28 years.
WVUE-TV FOX 8 New Orleans

Shreveport crews fight major blaze near shopping center

VIDEO/PHOTOS: A large number of Shreveport Fire Department crews are on the scene of a fire that broke out on the east side of town near the Shreve City Shopping Center. Just after 1:00 a.m. Friday, firefighters responded to an emergency on the 1300 block of Shreveport Barksdale Highway in The Hookah District Vibe Dining. Twenty-six units responded to the scene. When the first units arrived on the scene five minutes after the call they found the building fully engulfed in flames. While battling the blaze a mayday was called, pulling all team members out while a rapid intervention team went in to rescue a firefighter. Officials say one crewman did become disoriented but was able to return to fighting the fire. Crews are still working to contain the blaze. The business owner and manager are on the scene.
KTAL-TV NBC 6 Texarkana

Crews respond to truck on fire in Shreveport parking garage

At least a dozen units with the Shreveport Fire Department responded to a truck on fire in a parking garage Thursday afternoon (May 26). The call first went out around 2:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Line Avenue between Jordan and Herndon streets. KSLA crews on scene report seeing a vehicle on fire in a parking garage at that location. Fire Chief Clarence Reese says when firefighters arrived, they saw heavy smoke and flames coming from the third level of the parking garage, which has apartments just one level above. A pickup truck was on fire. As of 3:20 p.m., the fire was under control thanks to the work of five units and 15 firefighters, the chief says. Crews remained on scene for some time to double check the apartments above to make sure the fire had not spread in any way.
KSLA-TV CBS 12 Shreveport

Firefighters battle blaze at west Shreveport auto shop

Crews remain on the scene of a fire in west Shreveport on Friday morning. Dispatchers got the call just before 8 a.m. on May 27 to an auto business near the corner of Greenwood and Pines Road. Firefighters at the scene say heavy smoke was coming from the building — where there were cars inside. No one was injured. The building was unoccupied at the time. It took about 20 minutes to get the fire under control. According to Caddo911, at one point 18 fire units were on the scene.
KSLA-TV CBS 12 Shreveport

Roof ripped off business by strong winds damages Westwego homes, causes small fire

The Westwego Fire Department reported damage Wednesday after strong winds ripped off a roof of a business. The roof was ripped off a business on the Westbank Expressway and then blown into some nearby homes. The roof ripped down power lines and caused a small fire, according to the fire department. Fire officials say the fire displaced four adults and two children. No injuries were reported and the Red Cross is assisting affected families.
WDSU-TV NBC 6 New Orleans

Update: Tangipahoa Parish Fire District 1 puts out 4 fires in 4 days

Firefighters from 10 fire departments around Tangipahoa Parish spent parts of Friday evening and Saturday morning extinguishing a raging fire in a scrapyard off U.S. Highway 51 in Fluker, a spokesperson for Tangipahoa Parish Fire District 1 said. “Your firefighters are working hard to bring this fire under control,” a Facebook post from the district said as volunteers from Hammond, Roseland, Kentwood, Loranger, Husser, Independence, Wilmer and more drove to tackle the flames. The fire started just before 6 p.m. Friday, and at 11 a.m. Saturday, departments were still trying to get it under control as tires, pallets, boxes and debris burned for over nine hours. No one was injured. The “next one” came just two days later on Monday, when the district took out three structure fires.
Hammond Daily Star