NEW ORLEANS – Eight homeless squatters who died in a fire at an
abandoned warehouse where they were trying to keep warm were
accomplished musicians and artists who rejected the label "gutter punk,"
acquaintances said. Firefighters said they could not tell the ages or
genders of those who died Tuesday in the city's deadliest blaze in
decades because their bodies were so badly burned. A 23-year-old man who
escaped told the American Red Cross he could not get back in to help his friends because of the smoke,
agency volunteer Thomas Butler said. The group had been burning debris
to keep warm, with temperatures below freezing, authorities said. A group of young people sitting on the steps of an abandoned house near the warehouse said the dead included three women and five men. Rachel Park, 27, of California, estimated their ages
ranged from 19 to 30. The victims never thought of themselves as
homeless and rejected the "gutter punk" label used by some locals to
describe transient youths, who are often seen begging for money or
cigarettes on French Quarter Streets, she said. "They were all accomplished musicians or artists — jolly, happy people," Park said. - (more)
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