By Michelle Hunter
The Times-Picayune
METAIRIE, La. — A massive three-alarm fire that started in a crawfish boiler swept through three Metairie businesses Wednesday afternoon, blocking traffic for hours on Veterans Memorial Boulevard and killing hundreds of birds, fish and mice in a pet store.
The blaze, which took more than 2 1/2 hours to extinguish, started behind Krantz’s Seafood and Po Boys, 1023 Veterans Memorial Blvd., then spread next door to Sweet Things & Grill and Torin’s Pet Emporium, 606 E. William David Parkway, according to East Jefferson Consolidated Fire Department spokesman George Rigamer.
The only human injury reported was to a firefighter who had difficulty breathing and was brought to East Jefferson General Hospital. He was in good condition Wednesday evening, Rigamer said.
“The good news is there are no civilian casualties,” he said.
The fire started just after 1 p.m. in an alleyway behind Krantz’s, after an employee lit the burner on a commercial boiler fitted with a propane gas tank. The man told fire investigators that he was gathering some seasonings to add to the pot when he heard an explosion.
“He said when he turned around, the whole back of the place was on fire. All he could do was get out,” Rigamer said.
Fire investigators were unsure Wednesday evening what caused the flare-up and blast.
Krantz’s owner, Arthur Krantz, said the restaurant was full of patrons, but all escaped unharmed.
Next door at Torin’s Pet Emporium, groomer Rita Navarre was tending a customer’s pup when she heard the explosion. She said she immediately saw flames through a window and began evacuating pets with the help of assistant Melanie Palmer.
The two women frantically handed the animals to bystanders outside. When Navarre returned through the smoke for a cat named Tabitha, the heat melted her flip-flops to the floor, forcing her to flee with the cat while barefoot. She and Palmer were unable to save the parakeets, cockatiels, fish and mice sold by the store.
“It’s was just God’s will that we only had 11 dogs all day. Otherwise we wouldn’t have made it out with them,” Navarre said, recounting the tale from an empty grassy lot filled with spectators.
Dozens of people — some residents from the neighborhood behind the businesses, others workers who evacuated from nearby buildings — watched as the fire consumed Krantz’s and the pet store. Both had heavy fire damage, according to Rigamer.
Sweet Things & Grill suffered minor fire damaged on a shared wall, as well as water and smoke damage. Firefighters managed to stop the fire before it could damage an alterations store and a nail shop on East William David Parkway. No damage estimates were available Wednesday evening.
Traffic on Veterans Boulevard ground to a near halt during the firefight, with authorities shuttering all westbound lanes in front of the businesses. Eastbound lanes were clogged with rubbernecking drivers.
Authorities declared the fire out at 3:13 p.m.
But earlier, as the crowd watched the firefighters, one visibly shaken woman made her way toward the pet shop with her hands over her mouth. Leigh Jeanne Strain had been calling Torin’s all afternoon to check on her bichon frise, Frisco. After getting no answer from the store, Strain had decided to drive over — and found the smoke and firetrucks waiting for her.
She enveloped both Navarre and Palmer in a teary hug after the pair told her that Frisco and the other rescued pets were safe and being kept at another nearby pet store, Pet Palace, at 727 Aurora Ave. in Metairie.
“Oh my God! I don’t know how to thank you,” Strain told them.
Copyright 2009 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company