Thanks to all who emailed and tweeted. As of 9:45pm it appears to be contained and in the vicinity of 15th and P or Q Street, NW.
iaff36
A reader reports:
“Major house fire this afternoon on Madison between 16th and 14th. Never saw flames but tons of smoke coming out of every window. Firefighters cut holes in the roof. Unsure if anyone hurt or how it started.”
@IAFF36 tweeted:
“Update 1400 block Madison St NW fire in the basement is out. Firefighters still checking for extension in the walls on floors above”
Thanks to all who tweeted and emailed about the terrible fire in Dupont early this morning.
“Massive event at 17th and Riggs NW. Lots of smoke, Eric. Hear loud chain saw. Hope everyone is okay.”
“@dcfireems working hard to put out house fire 1600 block of Riggs NW. Apparently 2 injured so far”
“Multiple fire trucks, ambulances, and police on Riggs at 16th St NW”
“2 alarm fire next my apt. last night on Riggs street, NW cores out a row house killing two. Others hurt”
From @dcfireems:
“UPDATE: 2 alarm fire. 1600blk of Riggs Pl NW. fire knocked down. 2 pts P1; 2 pts P2; 2 FFs w/minor inj. 6 pts total.”
Fox 5 reports:
“Sources tell FOX 5 two bodies pulled from the third floor were a male and a female. One person was found in the bedroom and the other in the hallway.”
Updates when more is known.
Photo via @IAFF36
From DCFEMS:
“The funeral procession route for fallen DCFEMS Lt. Kevin McRae to be held on Friday, May 15, 2015. Following the service there will be a funeral procession through the District of Columbia that will result in rolling street closures between 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. A map is available here.
The funeral procession will travel the following route and make four stops at the below locations:
· Marine Unit Fireboat Display – from East Capitol Street, SE to the Anacostia Fwy
· Location of Incident – from Anacostia Fwy to 7th Street, SW to 1330 7th Street, NW
· Bell Ringing Ceremony at Engine 6 – from 7th Street, SE to 1300 New Jersey Ave, NW
· Ladder Arch – from New Jersey Ave, NW to Rhode Island Ave, NW to Eastern Ave, NE
There is expected to be heavy traffic around 2:00pm with the normal traffic pattern returning by 4:00pm. Motorists are advised that the above streets may experience heavy traffic. Only vehicles participating in the ceremony will be allowed to travel on the route while the procession passes.”
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photo via IAFF36
From IAFF36:
“May 6th, 2015 – Local 36 regrets to inform the membership of the line-of-duty death of Lt. Kevin McCrae, 6 Engine No.4 Platoon, while operating at a 2nd Alarm apartment fire at 1330 7th St. NW this morning. Our heartfelt sympathies go to Kevin’s wife, and daughter, and to his fellow members of 6 Engine & Truck 4. We are greatly diminished with Kevin’s passing.”
Update from IAFF36:
“On Wednesday May 6th, 2015 the District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department lost one of it’s best and bravest members – Lt. Kevin McRae on the fire ground at 1330 L St. NW.
Lt. McRae was a 24 year veteran of the department assigned to 6 Engine, No. 4 platoon. He leaves behind his wife Trell, and 5 children. There has been an overwhelming show of support for the family of Lt. McRae. We are asking that anyone who would like to help the family, make donations through the DC Fire & EMS Foundation in the name of Kevin. All donations go straight to the family, to assist with the expenses which occur as they go through this difficult period.
Any check or money orders should be made out to and mailed to the following:
DC Fire & EMS Foundation
Kevin McRae Survivor Fund
439 New Jersey Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001“
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Thanks to all who emailed and tweeted photos to @PoPville around 8:15am. @IAFF36 tweets “firefighters quickly extinguish this 9th floor fire in the 1300 Blk of 7th street”.
From @dcfireems:
“UPDATE: Fire 1300blk of 7th St NW. 4 pts transported. 1 FF P1. 1FF and 2 pts serious non-life threatening.”
Hard to believe but another bad shuttle bus fire at North Capitol and O St, NE around 8pm. Thanks to Colin B. for sending the photos.
Rob Rutledge sends the shot of the smoke plume below:
Photo by Keith Krosinsky
“Dear PoPville,
Today [Tuesday] while I was walking home from work up North Capital St I witnessed smoke that started to pour out of a shuttle bus that was parked on the closed off section of the O St NE unit block. This smoke quickly turned dark black and I proceeded to phone in what was apparently a fire to 911. As I did so large flames began to emerge from the vehicle, and a number of apparently homeless people began to exit from a number of other similar shuttle buses parked nearby. One of these people thanked me for phoning in the fire but that proceeded to immediately ask if I had any money. The fire quickly engulfed the vehicle and I could feel that heat of the flames from at least 25 yards away. I just hope that no one was trapped in that bus.
I thought that it was worth writing in about this issue for a number of reasons.
I have noticed that this odd section of O St NE, which is fenced off at both ends and contains a number of apparently disused shuttle buses has become something of a squatter camp for homeless people and I have often noticed them milling about the immediate area during the evenings. This is an area near the Washington Firehouse Restaurant (somewhat ironic) and and the NOMA metro station and this block adds a particular level of blight to an area that has been improving in recent years. I don’t understand why this street is shut off, why these buses are haphazardly parked in the area and why it has been allowed to become a defacto camp for homeless people. Apparently something went wrong (to my untrained eye it appeared that an accelerant might have been involved as the fire spread extremely quickly), and this would seem to demonstrate the type of public safety hazard that squatter camps can impose.
I also wanted to bring up an issue that has been discussed on PoP recently, namely 911 call response times. My call to 911 was immediately answered (a good thing since I was apparently the first person to phone it in) and fire trucks were dispatched before the call was over. DC Fire & EMS arrived within 5 minutes of my call and quickly extinguished the fire. Not sure if the quick response time was due to it being a vehicle fire but I thought it was worth mentioning that, at least in this case, DC 911 and emergency services performed as any DC resident would hope.”
Photo taken 7:10, Tuesday by Rob Rutledge.
A reader tweeted us on Monday:
“Yesterday found no more access to Metro Branch Trail @ L St bc top stairs were set on fire? Anyone know what happened?”
This morning a reader sends details via email:
“I called in the fire on the MBT steps on this past Friday night at around 10:30-10:45. From experience, it looked as though an accelerant was used, as, even though the steps are wooden, they went up in flames very quickly and were flaming in a way that indicates an accelerant. The Fire Department came in less than 2-3 minutes and worked on the fire for about five minutes before putting it out completely. I didn’t see anyone check out the scene or any DCPD/EMS arrive after.
The next morning, the stairs had been roped off with yellow caution tape, but no police or otherwise presence. The fire spread very close to the metro tracks (the grass at the top of the steps), so I was surprised to see that no one was out there checking it out. I know that some of the homeless people who sleep underneath the street bridge below sometimes sleep on the MBT bridge at night, so I’m hopeful there were no injuries.”
A reader reports:
“It happened around 5:30am this morning on the 16th street just south of D Street, SE.”
@dcfireems tweets:
“UPDATE: 400blk of 16th St SE. 2 pts transported. 1 w/critical inj; 1 w/serious but NLT”