The fire spread all over the plaza and throughout the French Quarter. Normally
whenever a fire started, the church bells would be rung, but because it
was Good Friday, the bells were muffled and couldn't be heard. Soon the
fire ignited the arsenal, the parish church and the Capuchin Quarters, all
of which were engulfed. All of the prisoners in jail escaped the flames
just in time. Only the chimneys of the 856 devastated buildings remained.
Few people remember me as the government treasurer. They usually just remember
me as the one who started the Great French Quarter fire!
