About 1,200 people, many in town for...

About 1,200 people, many in town for the NCAA championship basketball game, poured out of the Palace Suites Hotel in downtown New Orleans after a four-alarm fire broke out on the 10th floor of the 20-floor structure.

Smoke filled the 10th floor and filtered to rooms above. But there were few signs of fire outside the building and the blaze was brought under control about 11:18 a.m., a little more than half an hour after the first call came in.

There were no serious injuries reported in the mid-morning fire. Many of the guests in town for the Monday game in which Indiana defeated Syracuse and were preparing to check out when the blaze broke out.