A fire caused serious damage to an Uptown house at 5940 Freret Street Wednesday afternoon. Firefighters were called to the scene around 2:45 p.m. and found the second floor of the multi-story home engulfed in flames. 

Two Tulane graduate students who live on the second floor of the six-unit building reported sitting in their apartment when they were alerted to the fire by a neighbor pounding on their door. 

“I didn’t notice anything and I didn’t believe it when he said there was a fire,” resident Zak Delis said. “I thought it was a joke, and then I walked down the stairs and it got really hot.”

Witnesses reported seeing flames start from the second floor that quickly spread to the roof before sparking nearby electric lines.

A high school student walking home from Lusher Charter School said she noticed smoke that she at first thought was coming from a barbecue.

“It got dramatically worse,” the student said. “The balcony and the roof were enflamed. You could feel it from a block away.”

By 3:45 p.m. the flames were extinguished, and the Red Cross appeared to be helping the dozen or so residents of the complex.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear and investigators remained on the scene.

The Hullabaloo is following this story and will provide more details as they become available.