fire

Funding Approved for 3145 Mt. Pleasant St, NW – Very First Horse’s Ass Award Nominee

By Prince Of Petworth

Great development from Council Member Jim Graham’s Web site:

I am pleased to announce that last week, the Mayor recommended, and Council approved, a loan of $4,137,000 from the Community Development Block Grant Program to acquire the old Deauville Apartments at 3145 Mount Pleasant Street.

Located at 3145 Mount Pleasant Street, the Deauville was a historic building that was destroyed by a five alarm fire in March 2008. As a result of the fire, the tenants were relocated . We had all been working hard for years up until that time in order to overcome the nefarious actions by the slumlord who owned the property. Those actions were obviously set back with this fire.

This loan approval is an essential step towards redeveloping and rehabilitating the property. We appreciate the hard work of the Mayor and his staff in making this possible. The Mayor has been with us on this since the first hours of that devastating fire. The strong interest and support from ANC1D has also made a huge difference. And, of course, the tenants and housing advocates have stood strong in their determination to become the owners of 3145.

This loan will be used to fund the acquisition of 67 units of affordable housing in Ward 1. Forty of these units will be occupied by the original displaced tenants.

I look forward to putting this horse’s ass award nominee behind us and I can’t wait to post photos when progress takes shape!

Remember if there is no progress at all by March 2011 that’s when we start the revolution…

Fire at 8th and Taylor Streets, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

The reader who sends in the photos believes it may be a rooming house.

700 block of Taylor St, NW closed to traffic.

DCfireems says on twitter:

“700 blk Taylor St NW – fire in bsmt – 2 sty rowhse

Update – FFs rescuing occupants via ladders – fire in bsmt – heavy smoke”

2 Alarm Fire at 10 Rhode Island Ave NW

By Prince Of Petworth

A reader sends in word and a photo of the aftermath above. He writes:

“This happened early this (Monday) morning. 3 houses are damaged. I watched the people in the house with the most damage set off fireworks from their roof deck for a few hours last night. Glad to hear everyone is ok. Red cross is on the scene.”

@dcfireems writes on twitter:

“RI Av NW – fire investigators believe fire originated on rooftop deck – cause – accidental (under investigation)- no inj – 18 displ”

@Alex20001 posted a shot of the fire on twitter:


Photo by twitter user Alex20001

H St, NE’s Argonaut Bar and Restaurant Boarded Up Due to Fire

By Prince Of Petworth

Coming back from New York Sunday morning I was saddened to hear the news that the Argonaut, 1433 H Street, NE, had experienced a fairly severe fire. The owners write on The Argonaut’s blog:

* Nobody was in The Argonaut at the time, and nobody got hurt.

* We don’t know who called 911 this morning, but whoever you are, thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. Because of your call, the fire department was able to get there before the damage (which is very extensive, but pretty much only in the kitchen and bar area) was able to spread.

* Most of you may not know this, but our kitchen used to be an alley. Which means that the wall separating the kitchen and the bar is an “outside wall” and is several layers of brick. We are very thankful for that brick wall – it helped contain the fire.

* And thanks so much to the DC Fire Department. Seeing the kitchen, it really hit home about what they actually have to do. I cannot imagine having to walk inside what I can only imagine was an inferno…

* And thanks to Nancy & Graham, and Bill, Liz, Mika & Eila for watching Ara for the first part of the day. Thankfully, I had the good sense not to bring my toddler to a fire and they were ready, willing, and able to help! (And thanks to everybody else who offered to watch her…)

You can see photos of the damage inside and learn about their next steps here.

Fire on 1700 block of T Street, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

There was a fire in a building on t street (around 1:30pm) that seemed pretty bad–there were about four firetrucks on the street and smoke could be seen coming from a first floor window. I overheard someone say the fire was out, so I hope everything is okay! Pretty scary, though, we had firemen running through our back alley with axes.”

Huge Fire on 600 Block of Quincy, NW Mon. Night

By Prince Of Petworth

DCfireems says on twitter:

“Quincy St NW – cause under invest – appears accidental – damage $100K – maybe 2 families displaced – no injuries”

And a reader who sent in the photos writes:

“Apparently the fire is out now, but it looks like 612, 614, and 616 Quincy St NW burned today. 612 and 614 look particularly devastated, 616 (the one with the fire truck ladder over the roof) at least has all of its windows. 612 has been vacant for years now, the other two houses are occupied.”

It is sad to hear that a couple of families have been displaced but thankfully there were no injuries, great response from the emergency responders.

Photos From PoPville

By Prince Of Petworth

This is an insane before and after from binklesworth. He writes:

“Passed by this on the bus, found the “before” shot on Google Street View. Somewhere up 5th around the 5900 block, NW.”

Submit your photos via email or to the PoPville flickr pool here. Follow PoPville on twitter here.

Bizarre: Alley Couch Fire

By Prince Of Petworth

I’ve seen the occasional car fire in an alley. But this is the first couch fire I’ve seen. Thanks to dullshick for uploading to the PoPville flickr pool. Unfortunately no location was given. Totally bizarre.

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