Small fire breaks out at Hard Rock New Orleans site

Dive Brief:

A small fire broke out at the Hard Rock Hotel project in New Orleans Monday morning after a spark from steel demolition operations caught roofing materials still within the partially collapsed structure on fire, according to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
A crew of about 20 firefighters responded to the incident and used a ladder-mounted spray device to douse the fire. There were no injuries reported from the one-alarm fire, which was out by Monday afternoon.
Demolition of the Hard Rock project, which partially collapsed last October, killing three workers, began in May. and is expected to take six months.

Dive Insight:

Oct. 12 will mark one year since the Hard Rock Hotel project collapsed. Rescue crews recovered the body of Anthony Magrette a few days after the accident; however due to concerns about the stability of the structure, the bodies of the two remaining workers, Quinnyon Wimberly and Jose Ponce Arreola, couldn't be pulled from the building until August.

Crews are executing on an $8.4 million demolition plan that the city of New Orleans and developer and owner 1031 Canal Development signed onto earlier this year after months-long negotiations. Kolb Grading removed the damaged tower cranes in use at the time of the collapse and is now moving forward with the demolition of the hotel and some surrounding buildings.

There have been no criminal charges filed in connection with the collapse. But, according to the city's response to a lawsuit brought by the general contractor Citadel Builders demanding police and fire department bodycam footage taken on the day of the collapse, "criminal litigation is reasonably anticipated."

OSHA has cited Citadel and 10 other companies for safety violations related to the deadly collapse, with Heaslip Engineering LLC receiving the biggest fine — $154,214 — of the $315,536 total levied against the group.

The families of the three workers killed and others that were injured in the collapse have sued Citadel, 1031 Canal and others for their involvement in the collapse.

In the latest legal turn, New Orleans filed a suit against Citadel, 1031 Canal and other project players for reimbursement for the costs it incurred as a result of the collapse, which it says total $12.3 million.