The East Bank Consolidated Fire Department is investigating the cause of a two-alarm fire that damaged an Old Metairie duplex Thursday afternoon.
The residents escaped unharmed along with their pets, including a cat that had to be recused after scampering back inside the house, according to its owner.
The fire was reported about 11:47 a.m. in the 300 block of Carrollton Avenue, according to Rachel Strassel, spokesperson for Jefferson Parish.
Resident Mireya Modinger, 79, said she heard three small booms before another neighbor, who spotted had smoke, told her to get out of the house.
Krista Berg, 60, the resident on the other side of Modinger's duplex, said she was inside the residence when she her a noise that sounded like a loud scrape, followed by a loud boom. Berg then noticed smoke.
“I opened the door and there was fire everywhere,” she said.
Berg grabbed her dogs, Parker and Debo, and ran out of the residence.
Mack, Modinger's cat, had been outside the house when the fire began. But the cat dashed back into the smokey building, likely stressed and looking for his owner, Modinger said. A firefighter rescued the cat and brought him back outside.
Tall flames and black smoke billowed out of the single-story home as firefighters worked to contain the blaze. The department declared the fire out after about an hour, Strassel said.
The booms the residents heard were likely several aerosol cans that had been stored near a barbeque grill, according to East Bank Consolidated Fire Chief Charles Hudson.
The duplex had heavy fire damage while a house next door had damage from heat exposure, Jefferson Parish officials said.
