Fire Damages Abbey In St. Tammany

ST. BENEDICT, La. (AP) — The state fire marshal say a fire broke out early Wednesday morning in the dormitory of the St. Joseph Abbey in St. Tammany Parish where 65 people were sleeping.

Fire Marshal Butch Browning said one person suffered smoke inhalation. Otherwise, he said everyone safely evacuated the building after alarms went off.

The abbey, founded in 1889, is about 50 miles north of New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain.

Browning said the 2:30 a.m. fire was contained to the dormitory, but that the building was badly damaged. He said the fire started in the computer room and spread into the building's attic.

He said no other buildings — such as the abbey's historic church — were damaged.