For Immediate Release
January 18, 2015
Date of Incident: January 18, 2015
Firefighters Save Boarded Pets from Adjacent Grocery Store Fire
Slidell, LA. – St. Tammany Fire District #1 responded to the report of a commercial structure fire at the corner of Thompson Rd. and Hwy. 190 West in Slidell. Firefighters arrived on the scene in a little over five minutes to find a 10,000 square foot, three tenant strip building, with heavy smoke coming from the roof. They were able to bring the situation under control and extinguish the fire within 42 minutes of arriving on the scene.
A passerby saw smoke coming from the building and called 911 from a cell phone. All three businesses were closed at the time of the fire, which included the Palms of Slidell (Thompson Road Grocery), Bow Wow Dog Grooming and the Gift Emporium. Investigators believe the fire started in the grocery store from a plug in hand light that shorted. There was heavy fire damage to approximately half of the grocery store and heavy smoke damage to the remainder of the suite. The Gift Emporium, located adjacent to the grocery store, suffered moderate fire damage in the attic and moderate smoke damage in the business. There was no damage to Bow Wow Dog Grooming, as firefighters quickly set up ventilation fans to keep the smoke from entering the business. As a result, the six dogs, five cats, and five birds that were being boarded overnight were all saved. St. Tammany Fire District #3 in Lacombe also responded to the fire for mutual aid. No injuries were reported.
1st alarm: 00:53:07
On Scene: 00:58:35
Under Control: 01:35:31
Units: 14
Firefighters: 30
Injuries: 0
Cause: Accidental (electrical short)
For more information about St. Tammany Fire Protection District #1 visit us at www.slidellfire.org or follow us on Facebook – St. Tammany Fire District #1 and Twitter – @SlidellFire_PIO
Chad Duffaut
Chief of Fire Prevention/PIO
Cell: (985) 960-0976
