Nightwatch: Top 3 Biggest Blazes | A&E

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]What's the address of the emergency?

[00:00:02]>> Yes. How you doing? This man will about to blow up. 18 to the gas station.

[00:00:10]>> Yes. And it's going to blow up.

[00:00:11]>> Is the male still inside?

[00:00:13]>> They need to come out here now. Somebody going to die.

[00:00:25]Dispatch with a vehicle. Could be a accident or could be a auto fire.

[00:00:38]>> Please warn somebody for a fuel truck on fire.

[00:00:42]>> Oh.

[00:00:43]>> All right. This might be the big one.

[00:00:48]>> Look, look, look, look. Look at that.

[00:00:50]Look.

[00:00:50]>> Yep. There we go.

[00:00:51]>> Fuel truck.

[00:00:51]>> Call as baby. Square 27 on fire alarm.

[00:00:55]We're on the scene. It looks like we might have a uh fuel truck on fire. Can you have uh >> We arrived on the scene. It took me uh maybe three seconds to just take a hold of what I was looking at. It was uh it was something to see.

[00:01:07]>> Matter of fact, give me a one alarm.

[00:01:09]Fire alarm. Give me a one alarm.

[00:01:12]>> Tell me about the one alarm.

[00:01:14]>> I asked dispatch to complete the one alarm, which means to send multiple companies.

[00:01:20]>> Hey, back this up. I called for hazmat, which is our hazardous materials officer. He comes out on the scene to deal with anything that's classified by DOT as a hazardous material, such as fuel.

[00:01:32]>> Oh.

[00:01:34]Oh, this is going to be bad, dog. Away from >> Yes, indeed. That could blow.

[00:01:40]>> See if you find a hydrant.

[00:01:47]>> Come on. We got to do something quick.

[00:01:49]They got a hydrant on that corner.

[00:01:51]It's going to be on that side over there.

[00:01:53]>> Some new information real quick. Lady said that this car, they hit a car, a passenger car on the other side. Said nobody got out.

[00:02:01]>> One side of the street is businesses.

[00:02:02]The other side's residences. We didn't want to see that gas station go up either. And yeah, that's a whole another set of problems. So, you've got life safety factor. You've got explosion potential. Sometimes we got to remember that, you know, this thing is a killer.

[00:02:17]>> Give me a deuce and a half. All right.

[00:02:20]Put a deuce in the air >> Leave it out for right now.

[00:02:22]>> 503, the hazmat, the cab of the truck so far is on fire.

[00:02:27]>> Let's hump it. Let's hump it.

[00:02:29]>> I mean, I feel helpless, but I mean, what can I do?

[00:02:32]>> That thing explodes right now.

[00:02:35]>> Dude, you talking about blocks?

[00:02:38]>> Blocks of devastation.

[00:02:41]>> Hope the driver of that truck got out.

[00:02:44]>> I don't like this at all.

[00:02:47]Command the 27 back your crew out.

[00:02:52]Everybody need to get back at least two blocks back. Everybody burning a transform. You back up.

[00:03:01]>> It's hot beyond explanation.

[00:03:03]>> ALL RIGHT. LOOK, HAYDEN WANTS TO BACK IT UP.

[00:03:06]>> Let him let it go.

[00:03:07]>> Y'all got to move off.

[00:03:08]>> Come on. H. You're working under the most stressful conditions that I can imagine. For us to put on 60 lbs of gear and go face to face with something that has no mind of its own, a little fear might want to creep in. And you got to keep that at at bay and and and just do the job.

[00:03:28]>> Watch that power line.

[00:03:30]>> BACK UP. BACK UP. BACK UP.

[00:03:33]>> I need some help. When our hoses are filled with water, they're heavy like boulders.

[00:03:40]>> Yeah, that's right.

[00:03:43]>> Back up. Back up.

[00:03:45]>> It's getting hot.

[00:03:46]>> Having been a fireman before, that was the first thought in my mind was we're too close. Told T, it's funny as a trick that they teach you is to put your thumb up and look at the scene and if you can still see it around your thumb, you're still too close.

[00:03:59]>> Dude, we got to back up some more. Come on. Move this truck. Dude, that's getting way too big way too fast.

[00:04:05]>> Dude, when you see fire backing up, that's when you know, all right, we need to just back this up a little bit.

[00:04:12]>> Just stay safe.

[00:04:13]>> What about the foam? You still got plans for that?

[00:04:15]>> Nah, it's too much for foam right now.

[00:04:18]>> Commander fire alarm. The tank done ruptured. We have a lot of fire and flames blowing out of the tank here. We going to have to let it burn for the time being. We don't know how much fuel is inside that tanker. Every truck carries 15 gallons of foam. That's not going to cut it. So, we had to call in foam truck that's outfitted with a master stream nozzle that can apply foam way more than we could with a couple of hand lines.

[00:04:46]>> Command of 500. Uh do we have any uh foam truck or anything we can use? Uh we're letting this gas tank of fire burn burn itself out, but uh we probably going to need it uh when we get able to get close enough to it.

[00:05:00]>> The first moments of a fire are the most dangerous. And it took every ounce of restraint that these guys have to stay back and not get in there and fight that fire.

[00:05:12]>> Be advised, a tinker truck is responding from engineers.

[00:05:16]stand for. One of the things that all first responders are taught that if you don't protect yourself first, you can't help anybody else.

[00:05:26]>> See that tornado? Huh?

[00:05:29]>> I don't know where nobody's at. We don't know where I You could All it was was a mango restaurant up there, Paul. I know it could be 10 bodies up there.

[00:05:39]>> Look, um, two of the guys brothers are the driver and he's asking me about him.

[00:05:44]Mom's like, I don't I don't I don't know what to tell them.

[00:05:46]>> Tell him right now. We don't have all of that information.

[00:05:50]>> All right, that's fine. They can't find out anything until that fire gets down and we get close. At this time, we don't know anything, my man. I know where you at, bro. I promise. I know your family and we find something out, bro. We come let you know.

[00:06:07]>> We are dispatched on the first alarm of a two alarm fire in a massive blaze in the Bwater neighborhood.

[00:06:14]Hey, so what's going on down there?

[00:06:17]>> Not responding.

[00:06:19]Right over there.

[00:06:21]>> Yep. There you go.

[00:06:24]>> Probably not going to sing.

[00:06:27]>> When we arrive, the house is fully involved in flames. I see a woman screaming.

[00:06:34]So, at first you wonder if, you know, there's people in there.

[00:06:37]>> We're just going to pull it. We're just going to We're not going to Don't charge it.

[00:06:41]>> I got it. Go. Engine driver to plug. Go ahead and charge that line.

[00:06:47]>> Line is charged.

[00:06:50]>> When the building is fully involved, it's important to quickly get on the exposures the neighboring building >> cuz we could quickly go from fighting a single house fire to fighting a five house fire.

[00:07:06]>> Hey, tight over here. Let's check this room so we can get a primary done.

[00:07:11]>> After we know everyone's safe and evacuated in command, we did a primary search and no one's in the building.

[00:07:17]>> We can start to aggressively fight the fire.

[00:07:20]>> Get our ass in there and let's put it out. You can't get to it. Go ahead and swing that up.

[00:07:25]>> Hey, you ought to not go any further forward, huh?

[00:07:28]>> You're not advanced anymore.

[00:07:30]>> Okay, >> don't go any further.

[00:07:32]>> It's hot as in here, dude.

[00:07:34]>> Yeah, it's hot as in here. Even with two alarms, it's it's not enough men to put this fire out quickly enough. So, Chief struck a third and fourth alarm.

[00:07:43]>> Back out. Back out.

[00:07:48]>> When a second alarm is struck, every single firehouse in the city of New Orleans can hear what's going on. And we could tell the fire was pretty intense.

[00:07:57]The call comes out to us. We actually were dispatched on the fourth alarm >> 16 right here.

[00:08:03]When we arrived on the scene, the fire was knocked down at this point, but we still had a lot of hot spots burning.

[00:08:08]Look up in that corner. You see how it's molding right there?

[00:08:14]>> We were immediately needed to go into the main fire building on the second floor to make sure that all of it's extinguished.

[00:08:21]>> I got a lot of fire up here.

[00:08:25]>> Look at the fire over there in that peak. Ain't going to make it. I got a clear shot. I need 3 ft. 3 ft. Find it.

[00:08:33]>> I think our lines are going to reach it around the car. Get a couple more feet out of it. Tell them we got it. I got it now, buddy.

[00:08:40]>> We had a tough time finding all the hot spots up there. Everything was collapsed on top itself. I mean, it looks like like a bomb went off in the house.

[00:08:48]>> They're like the roof collapsed on it.

[00:08:50]>> Dude, that piece being held by one board.

[00:08:54]>> Dude, you feel this whole place shaking.

[00:08:56]Every now and then you feel it shake or something would move and you know you're like man uh I don't know if this is good.

[00:09:02]>> Sound the floor dick. Watch the floors moving.

[00:09:05]>> It looks like the fire originated in the garage. There's a bunch of artists that ran apartments in the house and they had a studio set up in the garage and they were doing some work and somebody forgot something on.

[00:09:16]>> Look in that back corner. They can get to that. That's what you got to get.

[00:09:21]>> We got it. We all for you.

[00:09:25]>> That's it. The fire is officially out.

[00:09:27]that ladder truck could hit just perfectly.

[00:09:30]>> It's a good feeling. You know, we got great firemen in the city in New Orleans. And uh Engine 29 did a tremendous job saving these other houses.

[00:09:38]>> Shut it down.

[00:09:42]>> Chief, it's Engine 16. We coming down from division 2 going to rehab.

[00:09:48]>> Everybody was safe, you know. We never had any really major injuries. That's the main thing. All in a nice work, my boy.

[00:09:57]>> I'm beat, buddy.

[00:09:58]>> Me, too.

[00:10:00]>> I'm getting old.

[00:10:01]>> I'm getting old.

[00:10:05]>> Jason, that was fun up in there.

[00:10:06]>> That was like That was like the old days, buddy. Making all these fires all day.

[00:10:13]>> Have a fire rescue.

[00:10:15]>> We have fire in the back of storage.

[00:10:17]>> Fire in the back storage.

[00:10:19]>> Yes, ma'am. Fire in the back storage. Is everyone out of the building?

[00:10:23]>> No, no, not yet. Come here, guys.

[00:10:25]>> Get everyone out of the building. I've got help on the way. Okay.

[00:10:28]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:10:29]>> We're on their way. Thank you.

[00:10:35]>> Rescue for, what's your location?

[00:10:38]>> We're all over.

[00:10:38]>> If you've got a call with 10, we'll be able to pick it up.

[00:10:42]>> Acknowledge.

[00:10:44]>> Tell me what we got, kid. Engine 10 16 18 and rescue 4. We have a single alarm structure fire.

[00:10:51]>> Rescue 4. Copy.

[00:10:54]>> 16 calling a working fire.

[00:10:55]>> Working fire.

[00:10:58]>> I got approximately 150 by 100 grocery truck.

[00:11:06]>> I don't see nothing yet.

[00:11:08]>> Just got dispatched to a working structure fire. just heard on the radio that uh they've got uh fire through the roof and heavy smoke conditions and they've already called for a second alarm.

[00:11:18]>> Second alarm means that the situation has become too large and life endangerment is so great that they're going to need the extra hands.

[00:11:29]>> There is smoke though, so it is working fire.

[00:11:31]>> Oh yeah.

[00:11:33]>> Oh, look at that right there, Billy.

[00:11:34]>> I see it. Oh yeah, it's cooking.

[00:11:38]At this point in time, the structure is heavily involved in fire and actually pretty much blacked out.

[00:11:46]>> Yeah. Come on, get dressed. Let's do it.

[00:11:51]>> 13 command.

[00:11:53]>> Just an FYI, this hole is about to get a lot larger up here.

[00:11:57]>> We're getting some plane now.

[00:11:59]>> And there's a possibility to secure another water source. The Bravo Charlie corner is about to light off.

[00:12:06]>> Copy. Is everyone making another building?

[00:12:08]>> That's affirmative. All employees are accounted for. Over.

[00:12:11]>> Hey, you ought to not go any further forward. Do not advance anymore.

[00:12:17]>> This is not a structure that I want to venture into too deep because of the conditions. So, we back out until we can get it knocked down a little bit more.

[00:12:26]>> David, engine 4 is set up with a full house hook up here.

[00:12:29]>> Okay.

[00:12:30]>> Engine 12 is going to lay from engine 4 down the back side water.

[00:12:34]>> That's what they're working on right now. Because of the construction of this building, we know that it won't take much heat and flame for this building to collapse.

[00:12:42]>> The window. You see the window.

[00:12:44]>> We go into defensive mode. These firefighters know that in defensive mode, we don't make entry into the building and we're going to fight this fire from the outside.

[00:12:51]>> I just got a flare up on the Alpha Bravo corner.

[00:12:54]>> Copy that. We've got uh heavy fire here at the front. We're going to have to get some hand lines in through the front windows. Let's get some lines on now.

[00:13:03]Woo.

[00:13:06]Why?

[00:13:08]Right here. Right here.

[00:13:11]>> Command, did you earn security?

[00:13:14]>> Chico's advised that the power has been cut to the entire building.

[00:13:25]>> Engine 10. Command.

[00:13:27]>> Mark.

[00:13:28]>> Command. We got about a 200lb propane tank and an exchange cage on the side over here. Flames are getting pretty close. Copy that. Pour water on them.

[00:13:39]>> We need to keep a steady stream of water on these propane tanks to keep them cool because if these things heat up and light off, then they're going to take off like missiles and they're going to throw some shrapnel around and they're going to end up causing us some serious issues.

[00:13:51]>> Command County 32 want to get some hand lines pulled. We've got tanks over there. worried about.

[00:14:08]>> Anytime you get a building of this size and you get partial collapses, it's extremely difficult to get these fires put out. command up in all four quadrants.

[00:14:20]>> It can be frustrating sometimes, but you just have to tuck that away and focus in on what your goals are and just meet those goals one by one.

[00:14:28]>> Billy, get in there with your life.

[00:14:30]Right here. Hey. Hey. Right here. Just hit that wall.

[00:14:36]>> Keep it right where you're at. Right in that door.

[00:14:40]13 command allame that still has any integrity.

[00:14:53]>> Acknowledge. Thank you.

[00:14:54]>> You know, as an incident commander, you take pride in seeing these guys bringing it all together, being able to take this chaotic mad house situation, bringing some kind of order to it.

[00:15:05]>> Here's your water.

[00:15:06]We were able to walk away without anybody being injured and everybody got to go home to their families the next morning.

[00:15:13]>> Bro, it's freaking hot. It is hot, man.

[00:15:15]It's super hot.

[00:15:16]>> I'm like dehydrated.

[00:15:17]>> I'm dying >> right now.

[00:15:20]>> Well, that's a total loss.

[00:15:21]>> No doubt about that cuz that thing was getting it.

[00:15:25]>> Well, I mean, there wasn't a window without fire coming out of it when we first got there.

[00:15:29]>> I'm not kidding you. When we turned around to go out, there was light coming in. I can see your silhouette. You're smoking like a campfire.

[00:15:39]I'm like, "Holy crap, it's too hot in here, man. We're going to just ignite."

[00:15:44]>> Good evening. I'm Kim Holden.

[00:15:45]>> And I'm Nancy Parker. Police say the fire trapped the driver of the 18-wheeler and he died.

[00:15:50]>> The woman who police say was driving the wrong way when she crashed into the truck is now under arrest.

[00:15:56]>> The big heroes of the Big Easy are back in a new season of Nightw Watch. And your new call is 20-year-old female.