July 1, 2009 - Over 100 occupants Evacuated during Downtown Building Fire

The Mid-South Towers Building was the scene of a two-alarm fire

The Mid-South Towers Building, 416 Travis Street, was the scene of a two-alarm fire, which kept more than 40 Shreveport firefighters and paramedics busy for more than an hour evacuating occupants and ejecting smoke. Fire officials determined the fire originated from motors located in the elevator room above the elevator shaft on the rooftop. Two occupants of the building were treated on-scene for non-life threatening injuries and released.

Shreveport Firefighters were dispatched at 10:44 a.m. and arrived on scene at 10:48 a.m. Upon arrival firefighters immediately proceeded to search the building to locate the fire. The fire was discovered and quickly extinguished with Carbon Dioxide fire extinguishers. At 11:04 a.m., Fire Chief Brian A. Crawford upgraded the incident to a second alarm and requested additional manpower and equipment as per the Shreveport Fire Department’s protocol for high-rise building fires. The fire was under complete control by 11:11 a.m.

“This potentially drastic situation was quickly mitigated through a corporate effort of the building’s maintenance personnel, security guards and the Shreveport Fire Department,” said Shreveport Fire Chief Brian A. Crawford. Our firefighters frequently train and prepare for high-rise building fires; however, having additional private manpower and resources at our disposal allowed the operation to unfold according to the textbook.

“I would like to commend Fire Captain Craig Mulford and the crew on Engine 1 who led the operation by climbing 16 stories wearing nearly 50 pounds of equipment. They did an outstanding job of controlling this situation”, said Crawford.

The incident required the use of 7 fire engines, 3 ladder trucks, 2 heavy rescue trucks, 3 battalion chiefs and 2 medic units.