In New Orleans, eight young people were killed in a fire on Tuesday while squatting in an abandoned building in the Upper Ninth Ward. It was the deadliest fire in New Orleans in more than 35 years. Most of the dead were artists, welders or musicians in their late teens and early twenties. Fire officials said the squatters were burning trash in a large barrel inside the building in an effort to keep warm on what was one of the coldest nights of the year. Charles Parent is the superintendent of the New Orleans Fire Department.

Charles Parent: “When the firefighters got to the actual building itself, it was engulfed in flames and had already partially collapsed. They made the best effort they possibly could, and actually they knocked the fire down within 33 minutes. It was a tremendous stop. But when they went into the interior of the building, that’s when we discovered some of the victims. We also interviewed two people that escaped the fire before. They said they were using a barrel with wood and trash, trying to stay warm, so many of the fire victims were overcome by carbon monoxide before the actual fire itself.”