What building collapsed in New Orleans? Community rattled amid several building collapse

Two separate partial building collapses shook the New Orleans community on Sunday, January 5, 2025. The New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) responded to both emergencies within hours of each other.

As per the press release, this first occurrence was reported to be around 12:11 pm in a two-story commercial structure located at 823 Decatur Street that had underway reconstruction.

According to the NOFD, part of the balcony railing on a second-floor level and a segment of the second-floor balcony collapsed onto the sidewalk below as a trash chute broke loose from the building. Firefighters were on the scene at 12:16 p.m., securing the area where the building has been closed due to safety assessment.

The second collapse was at around 1:12 p.m. It occurred in a one-story wood-framed residence at 2019 Frenchman Street. The construction had been severely neglected for years since Hurricane Katrina.

The right exterior wall of the home collapsed onto an adjacent occupied double at 2011-13 Frenchman Street. Fortunately, only a dog was inside at the time, and it was successfully rescued by firefighters. Neighbors reported that three adults lived in the affected home but were not present during the collapse.

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Community impact and response

Both incidents have raised a red flag with regard to New Orleans building safety, especially in neighborhoods that are just now recovering from past disasters. The Department of Code Enforcement is being called to assess the structure of both buildings.

Meanwhile, a building neighbor named Daija Miller told Nola.com:

"There's been a lot of stuff going on in the Quarter, so we've been on edge"

Another neighbor, Abraham Pimontel, noted that the scaffolding was swaying all morning:

“We made a bet. I said it was going to take more than two hours to fall, but 10 minutes later, it fell.”

NOFD reported no injuries for either incident; however, the community is rattled.

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New Orleans building collapse

This is not the first of such. Another massive collapse was recorded on December 30, 2024, in New Orleans near the Magazine and Felicity Streets intersection. This happened at about 5:45 pm with prompt intervention by the fire brigade.

Shortly after the collapse was reported, the NOFD responded to the scene. Upon arrival, they found a two-story vacant building at 1815 Magazine Street, with its second story partially collapsed.

The sidewalk was covered with debris from the structure, and two parked vehicles were crushed under the rubble. No injuries were reported, as it seemed that the building was not occupied at the time of the collapse.

The collapse also knocked out an Entergy transformer close by, plunging about 300 residents into darkness. According to Entergy New Orleans, the transformer it owned was damaged in the accident but was not the cause of the collapse.

State Senator Royce Duplessis, who lived nearby, said he was worried that this could become a trend. According to the Firehouse, Duplessis stated:

"This can't be like a trend. This can't be something that continues"

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Contributing factors to building failures

Most buildings in New Orleans are old and not renovated enough. The building that collapsed on December 30 was a two-story vacant building that seemed to be in bad condition. Such old structures might not have all the safety features that are found in modern buildings.

The influence of hurricanes and flooding, mainly Hurricane Katrina in 2005, had marred the infrastructure of the city. Over time, the city's many buildings have become subjected to water damage and disuse, making foundations and walls weakened. An example is the home that collapsed on January 5, which was in such disrepair since Hurricane Katrina.

In some renovation projects, construction practices do not follow safety protocols. In the January 5 incident, a trash chute falling from an under-construction building caused parts of the structure to fall. This could imply a lack of effective construction monitoring and strict implementation of safety standards for renovation processes.