UPSTAIRS LOUNGE FIRE

It was around 7 p.m. on the night of the fire when Mike Scarborough, drinking at the Upstairs,went into the men's room. He became annoyed at a man in the next stall; there was a hole in the partition, and the man was ogling and harassing whoever was on the other side. This had been going on for hours. Scarborough complained to the bartender,who went into the bathroom to roust the troublemaker: a down-on-his -luck hustler named Rodger Nunez.

Nunez - irate, drunk and publicy humiliated, a pariah even among the perverts- found Scarborough and rounded on him, cursing and cat calling. Scarborough delivered a right hook that laid Nunez out.Picking himself up, Nunez growled his famous line-" I'll come back and burn you all out"-and left. Minutes later, the bar was on fire....

note: 23 bodies were found burned beyond recognition. The dead body in the window was there for hours before workers could remove it.Photo from Skylar Fein.

Corner of Iberville and Chartres...French Quarter