# Breaking News: 4-Alarm Fire at The Quarter House in New Orleans Reported by Local NOLA News Media Tonight 6/18/20



## Bryang73 (Jun 18, 2020)

From NOLA.com:
"Two firefighters were injured fighting a blaze that started at a hotel in downtown New Orleans on Tuesday evening, according to fire officials.

Authorities were called to a four-alarm fire around 7:50 p.m. at 129 Chartres Street, the address for Quarter House Hotel, according to NOFD's union president Aaron Mischler, when two firefighters inhaled smoke.

They were inside the hotel attempting to put out the fire, Mischler said, when one firefighter was overcome by smoke and the other got lost in the hotel building.

Mischler said authorities had to rescue the second firefighter by ladder through a fifth floor window.      

As of 9:15 p.m., NOFD was still working the scene, but Mischler said the fire was contained with help from two mounted devices on large ladders that sprayed water down the building.

Photos on social media and from a reporter showed a cloud of smoke swirling above buildings near the intersection around 8:10 p.m.

It is not immediately clear what caused the fire at the downtown hotel, which has not been open to guests since the coronavirus pandemic caused shutdowns for many businesses.

According to the hotel's website, the building that houses the Quarter House pre-dates the Civil War and was designed by famed New Orleans architect James Gallier in 1831.

Most of the structures on the grounds were built prior to 1840.

Stay with NOLA.com for more updates."

From WVUE Fox 8  https://www.fox8live.com/2020/06/18/nofd-fights-fire-downtown-new-orleans-chartres-street/


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## chapjim (Jun 19, 2020)

It ended up being a six-alarm fire that wasn't under control until about 2 AM.  

A lot has to be sorted out -- separating rumor from fact, which will happen in good time so I'm not going to quote from the various reports.

I own four weeks there and consider Quarter House to be very close to the top of the list of places I like to be.


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## jackio (Jun 19, 2020)

I own one week there, and am so sad to hear this.


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## Karen G (Jun 19, 2020)

Here's a news story about the fire:  https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/...fire/289-2401deb7-3a8f-429a-92f4-14c383b710bb


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## moonstone (Jun 20, 2020)

Sad news!  I bet here goes a lot of people's Mardi Gras reservations! 


~Diane


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## jackio (Jun 20, 2020)

I am sure they are insured, but I wonder if a special assessment will be coming our way.  Their maintenance fees have been holding steady for many years.


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## RNCollins (Jun 20, 2020)

-below is a Facebook post from the Quarter House Resort

June 20, 2020

A message from our General Manager:

“We regretfully have to let you all know that our building is temporarily closed due to a fire that has taken place on June 18th at approximately 7:15 pm on Thursday evening. The fire only effected one small section of our building, but due to water damage, our check-in area and ground floor has also been effected. 
Fortunately, we were able to evacuate all of our owners and guests very quickly and with no injuries. We are heartbroken at this time. As you know, the Quarter House Resort is our jewel of the French Quarter. Our team will be reaching out to all owners and future guests to give you more information. If you have any questions and concerns, please email us at management@quarterhouse.com.”

Sincerely,
Nikki Krivjanick, General Manager


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## Sugarcubesea (Jun 20, 2020)

RNCollins said:


> -below is a Facebook post from the Quarter House Resort
> 
> June 20, 2020
> 
> ...




Wow, this is such sad news, I love the QH and my heart breaks for the entire staff who are all just wonderful....Nikki, holds a special place in my heart and she has always gone above and beyond for me....


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## chapjim (Jun 20, 2020)

Nothing on QH's website.  I'll send Nikki an email.

Mere property damage!


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## CPNY (Jun 20, 2020)

Wow! I was going to book there instead of Florida for this week.


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## spackler (Jun 21, 2020)

Hmm, I just gave a week to RCI for an exchange...I wonder if RCI will reverse that.


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## RNCollins (Jun 21, 2020)

spackler said:


> Hmm, I just gave a week to RCI for an exchange...I wonder if RCI will reverse that.



My 2020 & 2021 QH unit in Interval is no longer available for deposit “due to resort conditions.”


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## spackler (Jun 24, 2020)

Yeah, I can understand not accepting deposits right now, but I wonder if RCI has ever "reversed" a completed deposit due to these type of circumstances.


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## CPNY (Jun 24, 2020)

I can’t believe I almost booked that in interval for that same week!!


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## clifffaith (Jun 24, 2020)

I missed this last week. We stayed at the Quarter House on our first trip to New Orleans and really enjoyed it. So sorry to hear this.


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## Maple_Leaf (Jun 25, 2020)

Here is the local news report. It sounds like guests heard explosions before the fire.


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## kparam (Jun 25, 2020)

spackler said:


> Yeah, I can understand not accepting deposits right now, but I wonder if RCI has ever "reversed" a completed deposit due to these type of circumstances.


Yes, they "cancelled" my 2020 73000 points deposit (Week 26) - Penthouse.    I also have a week deposited (Week 50) but RCI hasn't cancelled or reversed that trading value yet..
This is so sad, but hopefully they can make repairs.  I don't know if or how badly our 2 units are damaged.


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## rickandcindy23 (Jun 25, 2020)

Wow, that is very sad.  I hope they get the resort up and running again.


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## Free2Roam (Jun 26, 2020)

I own week 27 and just a couple weeks ago reached out to bank my week (internally). Thanks to the pandemic, I'm not traveling much this year. I was told I had until 12/2021 to use my banked week. 

Sad to hear about the fire. Fingers crossed that any special assessments will be small!


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## Sugarcubesea (Jul 24, 2020)

I just got a call from Quarter House, and they informed me that their phone lines just got turned on yesterday and that my unit had no damage but they could not tell me if I could use it for week 3 in 2021. They told me to call back in October to get an update. I love this TS so much and I'm grateful that the fire did not total this great place...Chapjim helped me years ago when I was buying this place and I still can't thank him enough for turning me onto this great place


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## Sandy VDH (Jul 24, 2020)

Did they ever comment on the cause of the fire?


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## Sugarcubesea (Jul 24, 2020)

Sandy VDH said:


> Did they ever comment on the cause of the fire?



The person that called me stated they could not determine the cause of the fire...


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## chapjim (Jul 25, 2020)

I wish QH would post an update -- something more than the notice on QH's website.


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## NOLA47 (Jul 25, 2020)

I don’t think they ever stated the cause of the fire but only that it affected one small area of the building; however, due to water damage other areas were affected. I would have thought more details of the fire (cause) would have been released by now. No one was hurt but it was a six alarm fire in the confined French Quarter area.


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## chapjim (Jul 26, 2020)

NOLA47 said:


> I don’t think they ever stated the cause of the fire but only that it affected one small area of the building; however, due to water damage other areas were affected. I would have thought more details of the fire (cause) would have been released by now. No one was hurt but it was a six alarm fire in the confined French Quarter area.



Yes, that's my point.  They put a lot of water on the fire and the only mention of water damage was to the check-in area and ground floor.  Did the water take the stairs so as not to cause damage on the way down?


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## NOLA47 (Jul 26, 2020)

There's obviously a lot they are not sharing especially if they are stating they may not be able to keep a reservation in the first quarter of 2021.


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## Saintsfanfl (Aug 8, 2020)

I did not push on the cause of the fire but the damage really wasn't to just one small area like they initially stated. They completely lost 6 units on the 5th floor. While the reopening date is completely up in the air they are not auto-cancelling my week 51 reservations. They are cancelling reservations at least through Thanksgiving and offering internal exchange credits in lieu of usage.


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## klpca (Aug 8, 2020)

Saintsfanfl said:


> I did not push on the cause of the fire but the damage really wasn't to just one small area like they initially stated. They completely lost 6 units on the 5th floor. While the reopening date is completely up in the air they are not auto-cancelling my week 51 reservations. They are cancelling reservations at least through Thanksgiving and offering internal exchange credits in lieu of usage.


Yes, I received the same info except that they wouldn't guarantee that my week 8 would be available. My unit was not damaged (327)  but they said that they wouldn't know for at least 4-6 weeks what the timeline looked like because the reception area was pretty much destroyed by the water damage.


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## chapjim (Aug 8, 2020)

I was left a rather puzzling voice mail a week ago.  It said my Unit 221 (Wk 46) was not damaged but said nothing about my three other units, the amount of damage, state of repairs, or re-opening.  Obviously reading a script and probably quite happy no one answered the call.

If 327 was undamaged, 427 (Wk 47) should be as well.


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## klpca (Aug 8, 2020)

chapjim said:


> I was left a rather puzzling voice mail a week ago.  It said my Unit 221 (Wk 46) was not damaged but said nothing about my three other units, the amount of damage, state of repairs, or re-opening.  Obviously reading a script and probably quite happy no one answered the call.
> 
> If 327 was undamaged, 427 (Wk 47) should be as well.


I got the impression that they were going down the list by week, so maybe they haven't gotten to your other weeks, and haven't made the connection that you own multiple weeks? They also asked for my email address so that they could email future information to me. What a time consuming process!


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## chapjim (Aug 9, 2020)

Could be.  They called about Wk 46 and I have Wk 47 and 52.  I have a reservation for October 2 but that's the result of an internal exchange with Wk 21 and will be a candidate for another exchange.


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## Saintsfanfl (Aug 10, 2020)

klpca said:


> I got the impression that they were going down the list by week, so maybe they haven't gotten to your other weeks, and haven't made the connection that you own multiple weeks? They also asked for my email address so that they could email future information to me. What a time consuming process!



I think you are correct. The person that called me was referencing my week 46 430. I had to volunteer the info for my week 51 430 and week 51 328. I figured they were only hitting the reservations that are definitely being cancelled.


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## Saintsfanfl (Aug 12, 2020)

It will be a minimum of 6-8 months. Canceled weeks will be auto banked for internal usage. I don’t know how they are going to be able to accommodate everyone’s replacement weeks. Wouldn’t there me way too many?


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## klpca (Aug 12, 2020)

Saintsfanfl said:


> It will be a minimum of 6-8 months. Canceled weeks will be auto banked for internal usage. I don’t know how they are going to be able to accommodate everyone’s replacement weeks. Wouldn’t there me way too many?


Did they call you back? Is it 6-8 months from now? Or from the time of the fire? I am surprised that they are closing the entire place for that long, but I am sure that they have tried thinking of alternatives and this is their best solution. I feel sorry for the staff as well as other owners.


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## scootr5 (Aug 14, 2020)

Has there been any indication that this will be covered by insurance, or if they will need to do a special assessment?


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## Sugarcubesea (Aug 15, 2020)

klpca said:


> Yes, I received the same info except that they wouldn't guarantee that my week 8 would be available. My unit was not damaged (327)  but they said that they wouldn't know for at least 4-6 weeks what the timeline looked like because the reception area was pretty much destroyed by the water damage.



When they called me, they also would not guarantee my week 3 usage in 2021, they suggested that I call in November to determine usage?  During my ownership I have never had a special assessment from them. Have any of the folks that have owned longer then 6+ years had special assessments?


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## klpca (Aug 15, 2020)

Sugarcubesea said:


> When they called me, they also would not guarantee my week 3 usage in 2021, they suggested that I call in November to determine usage?  During my ownership I have never had a special assessment from them. Have any of the folks that have owned longer then 6+ years had special assessments?


I bought my unit in 2016 so I am no help there. Hopefully the insurance covers everything except the deductible, but I guess we will find out this fall when invoices are sent out.


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## Saintsfanfl (Aug 15, 2020)

klpca said:


> Did they call you back? Is it 6-8 months from now? Or from the time of the fire? I am surprised that they are closing the entire place for that long, but I am sure that they have tried thinking of alternatives and this is their best solution. I feel sorry for the staff as well as other owners.



As expected they called me on my week 51 units like they hadn't already called me. Not sure why they didn't call based on an owner name list rather than week or unit numbers. It was 6-8 months from now and not the fire although 6 months from now is the same as 8 months from the fire. I wonder if business dropping due to Covid has anything to do with them dragging their feet on repairs. I am not judging or criticizing but just stating the possible reality. Would we really have these low maintenance fees for 37 years straight if they were not able to consistently rent out extra units? Staying closed may save us from a special assessment. Not from the repairs but from the lack of revenue due to Covid. This is assuming they are heavily cutting operating expenses during this period but that should go without saying.

As far as insurance goes, they have insurance, and a fire is clearly a covered event. They dropped named storm coverage after Katrina and went self insured for only that.

Based on another post 6 years ago by someone who bought in 1998 there doesn't seem to have been a special assessment since then. The place itself goes back to 1983 though so it is possible.

Interesting but unrelated fact. You will notice the elevator in the lobby also opens at the back. The back opening goes to other wholly owned condo units that are not part of the QH1 or QH2 associations.

The founding company is Oak Ridge Park, Inc and began in 1979. I believe the same attorney/developers are still in charge after all these years.


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## scootr5 (Aug 18, 2020)

I received a brief update from Nikki today:

"our building is closed temporarily until the end of the year.    We are in process of the last stages of remediation and starting on the demolition to the areas that were affected.  It is too early for us to give you a date of our reopening but as soon as we get those dates we will alert the owners.  Our check- in area was affected dramatically by the water that was used to put out the fire along with the entire first floor of the building.   All the owners that this fire has  affected will receive another week in 2021.  We will let all the owners know when we are getting to the rebuild stage as we will be able to give a better timeline for a reopening once demolition is over."


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## NOLA47 (Aug 18, 2020)

It sounds like this story is unfolding piece by piece and still no mention of cause of fire.


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## Sugarcubesea (Aug 18, 2020)

scootr5 said:


> I received a brief update from Nikki today:
> 
> "our building is closed temporarily until the end of the year.    We are in process of the last stages of remediation and starting on the demolition to the areas that were affected.  It is too early for us to give you a date of our reopening but as soon as we get those dates we will alert the owners.  Our check- in area was affected dramatically by the water that was used to put out the fire along with the entire first floor of the building.   All the owners that this fire has  affected will receive another week in 2021.  We will let all the owners know when we are getting to the rebuild stage as we will be able to give a better timeline for a reopening once demolition is over."



I'm thinking with this new info, that my week 3 for 2021, will probably not be available. I feel sorry for QH, as with COVID-19 I bet it will be hard to hire contractors to fix the affected areas by the fire...so sad as I love my QH purchase and all of the staff at QH.


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## scootr5 (Aug 18, 2020)

Sugarcubesea said:


> I'm thinking with this new info, that my week 3 for 2021, will probably not be available. I feel sorry for QH, as with COVID-19 I bet it will be hard to hire contractors to fix the affected areas by the fire...so sad as I love my QH purchase and all of the staff at QH.



Construction and building trades are generally considered "essential workers", so they've been in full swing mode all spring and summer.


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## kparam (Aug 28, 2020)

Got a call from the Quarter House in early August, one of our units (305) had extensive water damage and can't be occupied in time for our December week.    It is above the office/check in unit.  They offered to get us a different unit but we had already deposited it into RCI weeks (not points).   The other Unit, a June/July penthouse supposedly didn't have any water or smoke damage, but I can't imagine it not smelling like smoke because it is on the 5th floor..  Because we had already deposited points for it, the Quarter House notified us they "removed" the points from RCI and will add them back in when all is open again.   If we had planned to go in June, we would have been scheduled to check in the week after the fire.


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## Sugarcubesea (Aug 28, 2020)

scootr5 said:


> Construction and building trades are generally considered "essential workers", so they've been in full swing mode all spring and summer.




The reason I stated that is in MI, the contraction crews were not allowed to return to work till Jun 1st, they were not considered essential workers, our lawn service company could not cut our lawn till the last week in May.


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## Saintsfanfl (Aug 28, 2020)

kparam said:


> Got a call from the Quarter House in early August, one of our units (305) had extensive water damage and can't be occupied in time for our December week.    It is above the office/check in unit.  They offered to get us a different unit but we had already deposited it into RCI weeks (not points).   The other Unit, a June/July penthouse supposedly didn't have any water or smoke damage, but I can't imagine it not smelling like smoke because it is on the 5th floor..  Because we had already deposited points for it, the Quarter House notified us they "removed" the points from RCI and will add them back in when all is open again.   If we had planned to go in June, we would have been scheduled to check in the week after the fire.



Smoke alone is pretty easy to treat with Ozone. From what I was told the actual unit destruction is only 501-506. The other 5th floor units are believe are also technically in the next building but the hallway is obviously open between the two.


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## Sugarcubesea (Aug 30, 2020)

*Update from QH Facebook Post....*

Quarter House Fire Update 8/27/2020:

To Our Owners and Guests,

As you may know, the fire occurred on the rooftop of our Lobby building, where our Front Desk Check-In and Lobby is located on the ground floor. The Lobby area and floors 2-5 suffered major water damage due to the large amount of water used to put out the fire. The rooftop (5th floor) also suffered fire damage.
We have begun the demolition of the damaged areas and begun hauling away the debris caused by the fire. Immediately, as the debris is removed we are beginning the renovation and refurbishment of the water and fire-damaged areas. Our contractors have been instructed to make every effort to keep affected areas safe for workmen on our property. Our contractors have also promised to minimize disruptions to our neighbors during this time

We will update you periodically as soon as we know, on the status of returning our Jewel of the French Quarter to better than its former state.
Please contact us with any concerns during the course of the project and thank you for your understanding in advance.
Nikki Krivjanick, General Manager


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## klpca (Sep 5, 2020)

FYI, I logged in to Interval this morning and when checking my units, my week 8 was available for deposit. I hadn't checked for awhile, but ever since the fire it hasn't been available for deposit.


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## Sugarcubesea (Oct 15, 2020)

*Update from QH - Email sent to me:*

Dear Quarter House Owner,

       As you may know, the fire Occurred on the rooftop of our lobby building, where the Front Desk Check-In and Lobby is located. The Lobby area and Floor 2-5 suffered major water damage due to the large amount of water used to put out the fire. The rooftop (5th floor) also suffered fire damages. We have begun the demolition of the damaged areas and have begun hauling away all debris caused by the fire. We are in the final stages of demolition and are beginning some renovations on the ground floor. We are attempting and hoping to re-open sometime in the beginning of the 2021, but it is still too soon to predict a specific date. We will contact you again, and let you know ahead of time of our reopening date. Thank you for your patience.



Piedra Atkins

Front Desk Manager

Quarter House Resort

129 Chartres Street

New Orleans, La. 70130

504-523-5906 ext 160


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## moonstone (Oct 16, 2020)

When the fire first happened our oldest DS, who is a senior project manager for the commercial division of a major North American restoration company, said he figured the resort would be closed for at least a year for restoration from what his US counterparts were saying, despite what the resort initially said. He thinks it will be next summer or fall when it is fully restored. The good news is that often after a major restoration the building is in better shape than before the fire.  Many south Florida resorts need the same thing!

~Diane


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## Sugarcubesea (Oct 16, 2020)

moonstone said:


> When the fire first happened our oldest DS, who is a senior project manager for the commercial division of a major North American restoration company, said he figured the resort would be closed for at least a year for restoration from what his US counterparts were saying, despite what the resort initially said. He thinks it will be next summer or fall when it is fully restored. The good news is that often after a major restoration the building is in better shape than before the fire.  Many south Florida resorts need the same thing!
> 
> ~Diane



I pretty much figured I would not be able to use my week # 3 in 2021, here's hoping we can all get back to QH in 2022


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## spackler (Oct 16, 2020)

klpca said:


> FYI, I logged in to Interval this morning and when checking my units, my week 8 was available for deposit. I hadn't checked for awhile, but ever since the fire it hasn't been available for deposit.



Yep, just confirmed that RCI is taking 2021 deposits as well.


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## Sugarcubesea (Oct 16, 2020)

spackler said:


> Yep, just confirmed that RCI is taking 2021 deposits as well.



Thanks for letting me know, I will deposit mine into II


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