NEW ORLEANS – Averting a terrible real-life plot twist, a writer left firefighters behind while rushing into a burning New Orleans house on Thursday to rescue his laptop that had his two completed novels saved on it, AP reported.
“Anybody that’s ever created art, there’s no replacing that,” Gideon Hodge, 35, told The New Orleans Advocate after safely making it out of the burning building with the computer. “It’s got pretty much my life’s work.”
The fire in New Orleans’ Broadmoor neighborhood had spread to the house where Hodge lived from an empty, single-family house next door, where firefighters believe it started. Dozens of firefighters battled the stubborn three-alarm blaze for hours. A huge column of black smoke was visible for miles.
No injuries were reported. Occupants of the second house escaped safely.
Hodge’s home, along with his family’s belongings, was destroyed. His friends responded by setting up a GoFundMe page that has already raised almost $6,000 in less than 24 hours.
Hodge posted a message on his Facebook page to thank: “I thank you all for the outpouring of love that came forth during all of this…You have been more help than I could have imagined.”
