Fifth Day of Disaster Begins With Fire
Local and State Officials Unable to Contain Emotions as Refugee Centers Reach Capacity in Texas
By Fred Barbash
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 2, 2005; 8:33 AM

Explosions and fires hit the New Orleans riverfront a few miles south of the French Quarter Friday morning but there were conflicting and fragmentary reports about whether the blazes involved railroad cars or warehouses or empty oil drums.

While the fire glowed in the sky and TV stations speculated about whether or not there were any "toxic clouds," Walter Maestri, head of emergency management for Jefferson County, came on talk radio four hours after the explosions and said "it was not the major incident we thought it was."

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