About 80 New Orleans firefighters battled a massive blaze that destroyed a historic mansion on St. Charles Avenue in the garden district. A tired New Orleans Fire Chief, Tim McConnell says investigators are trying to determine a cause and thankfully no one was injured….
cut 14 (05) “…getting out”
A total of three people escaped. The Rex parade which rolls on Mardi Gras day stops at this house for a toast every year.

A 67-year-old Opelousas woman faces criminal charges after she allegedly shot her pet llama after it attacked her. St. Landry Sheriff’s Major Eddie Thibodaux says Madeline Bourgeois has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty.
Cut 3 (11) “…shot at him.”
The lama is recovering at a local animal hospital.

About 500 business people representing various sectors of the economy will be in Baton Rouge tomorrow for what Governor John Bel Edwards calls a statewide business summit. The state Republican Party calls it a campaign ploy, but Edwards says the goal of the conference is to see how the public and private sector can drive Louisiana’s economic future.

Want to adopt a horse that’ll march in a Mardi Gras parade? Matt Doyle has more on a Louisiana Humane Society effort to save those horses from the slaughterhouse…
Voicer 2 (30) “I’m Matt Doyle”