Abandoned New Orleans wharf burns down; fireworks to blame?

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The remains of an abandoned river wharf went up in flames over the weekend in New Orleans as fireworks went off nearby, but officials haven’t yet determined whether the display played a role in the enormous fire. The Times Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reports that the fireworks began around 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Wooden pieces of the former Market Street Wharf lit on fire a few hundred feet up the river within 30 minutes. Winds pushed the fire close to the entrance of an active wharf, which is where police noticed it. The fire department says about 40 firefighters tended to the flames that stretched approximately four blocks at their peak.