The smell emitted by objects burned is insidious. No matter the perfume, food or stench odors that permeate New Orleans, the olefactory mark of fire is persistent. Driving past the remains of the building yesterday, I was amazed at how quickly fire renders a place no more. This morning, I saw that the fire took out the whole building all the way from the Subway on Baronne to the ex-Bayou Bagelry on Gravier. I feel badly for the owners and operators of the convenience store and Subway. Gone are the cat-callers, wolf-whistlers, butt-grabbers, purse-snatchers, public urinators and litterbugs. Is the structural damage wrought by this conflagration, that had a fireman fall through the floor of the second storey, less of a threat to pedestrians and motorists in the Central Business District than a lone church in the Lower Garden District?

One wonders.

beautiful