|
| Collapse Assignment In S.E. |
September 27, 2008
by Alan Etter DCFD PIO
Dispatched at 12:38 PM on 9/27, DCFD's Collapse Team encountered an old apartment building with significant collapse conditions from the roof inward of a four unit two-story building in the 4200 block of 6th Street, Southeast.
Structural compromise was evident from the Southern most unit, extending to two units in occupied areas of the North side of the building. The two South units were vacant, but people in the North units had to be evacuated.
In all, 10 people were displaced. No injuries were reported, and DCRA was evaluating the next steps
|
| Elliot Goodman Retires After 24 Years of Service |
September 27, 2008
by DCFD.COM Staff
Elliot Goodman Retires
after 24 years of faithful service to us all
Devoted to D.C. Firefighters. Committed to our Safety.
Fidelity to our Mission. Dedicated to the D.C. Fire Department.
Best of luck from your brothers on the street and the staff of DCFD.com. And as always, many thanks for the long alert tones, “wide awake, wide awake”, and “for the house that IS on fire”, among numerous other favorites we shall fail to mention here…”Box Me Baby!”
|
| Fatal MVA 19th St. & Virginia Ave. NW |
September 27, 2008
by Vito Maggiolo
One person is dead and five others injured following a horrific crash between a bus and taxi in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of D.C.
A taxi carrying a family of two adults and two children and an empty metrobus collided at the corner of 19th Street and Virginia Avenue N.W. Following the impact, the bus careened another block, jumping a curb, churning through a park, and ramming thru a retaining wall. It finally came to a halt tottering on the edge on a large fountain.
Firefighters had to extricate the occupants of the severely damaged taxi. One of its occupants, an adult male, was transported to the hospital with CPR in progress, and was subsequently declared DOA. The taxi and bus drivers and remaining family members were also transported with various degrees of injuries.
It took a rescue assignment, along with 6 ems transport units, an additional engine, the hazmat, and several EMS supervisors, to handle the incident, under the command of Battalion 6. One firefighter was also taken to the hospital after slipping and falling at the scene.
|
| 2nd Alarm 2616 Bladensburg Road N.E. |
September 25, 2008
by Vito Maggiolo
A stubborn blaze in a mixed occupancy structure required a second alarm assignment in the wee hours of Thursday, September 25.
The fire, at 2616 Bladensburg Road N.E., involved a 2.5 story building with a brick storefront and wood frame balloon construction in the rear. Box alarm companies arrived around 2:30 AM to find heavy fire in the basement and first floor.
An initial interior attack was switched to exterior operations due to conditions. When the interior attack resumed, flames had extended via the walls to all floors and into the attic area.
It took about an hour to bring the fire under control.
|
|
September 25, 2008
by Vito Maggiolo
DC Special Ops units were faced with an unusual challenge on Thursday evening, September 25th, with an occupied, stalled elevator in a blind 10 story shaftway.
Rescue Squad 1 was initially dispatched to the call at 701 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. The found a woman trapped in an elevator at about the third floor level, with no openings between the lobby and tenth floor. Sizing up the need for a possible rope removal, Squad 1 officer Lieutenant Walter Webb requested a second squad and the Special Operations Battalion Chief.
The combined units began setting up an extensive rope operation and also searched for a possible breach point. Just when it looked as if a firefighter would have to be lowered down the shaft, an elevator repairman arrived, and was able to manipulate the control mechanism and raise the lift to the tenth floor, where the occupant was safely removed.
|
| Transformer Vault Fire In S.W. |
September 22, 2008
by Alan Etter DCFD PIO
At 3:19 PM Monday, Engine 13 and Truck 7 responded for an automatic fire alarm in the 400 block of Virginia Avenue, Southwest. En route to the scene, many more calls came in for stalled elevators with power disruptions and reports of explosions.
Once on the scene, it became apparent there was an underground fire working in the 400 block of Virginia Avenue, SW. Firefighters set to work evacuating two buildings, including the Social Security Administration building, taking people out on the South side of the buildings away from the fire. In the street, just South of the train bridge, a huge fire was working underground with a plume of thick, black smoke that could be seen for miles. At times, fire leapt 20 feet into the air.
Pepco was able to arrive quickly and take power off the grid so that repairs could be made.
|
| Woman Rescued In South Capitol Street Blaze |
September 19, 2008
by Alan Etter DCFD PIO
Firefighters David Keefe and Dave Powers of Rescue Squad 1 are being commended for their efforts in rescuing an elderly woman from a blazing home in the 400 block of South Capitol Street.
The fire broke out just before 5:30 PM yesterday. Intial callers reported someone was trapped in the middle of the row house, from which heavy smoke was pouring from the first floor. As first arriving units began knocking down the fire, Keefe and Powers located the 87-year-old woman in the kitchen area on the first floor and quickly removed her. Outside, her injuries were assessed as critical, and she was transported to MedStar, where she remains in critical condition.
Fire investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire, which appears to have started in a dining room area. MPD and ATF are assisting in the investigation.
|
| Closet Fire In S.E. Discovered by MPD |
September 18, 2008
by Alan Etter DCFD PIO
MPD officers came across this fire just before noon in the 1000 block of G Street, Southeast. Smoke permeated the block across from Tyler Elementary School. Intial reports were that people were trapped, and firefighters quickly began an aggressive search and fire suppression operation.
The source of the fire was discovered to be a closet on the second floor of a rowhouse, second from the end. A fast knock on the fire kept the blaze from spreading, but there was moderate to heavy smoke conditions not only in the fire building, but also the B exposure next door, which was the end unit. Firefighters removed two dogs, who were trapped in smokey conditions in the exposure building, were removed by firefighters. They were not injured.
It was learned that welders were working on the roof of the fire building, and it is likely smoldering solder fell down through the wall into the closet from the work area on the roof. A damage estimate was still being calculated. Nobody was trapped, and no one was injured.
|
| Small Fire In Shaw Neighborhood |
September 17, 2008
by Vito Maggiolo
A small fire that erupted in a Shaw area rooming house was quickly extinguished Wednesday night, September 17th.
The blaze originated in a TV set on the second floor of 1836 North Capital Street N.W. It extended slightly to other contents in the room before being brought under control.
There were no injuries. The incident was handled by a box alarm assignment
|
| Quick Knockdown On Georgia Avenue Apartment Fire |
September 15, 2008
by Vito Maggiolo
Firefighters made quick work of a fire that broke out on upper Georgia Avenue Monday evening, September 15th.
The blaze broke out shortly before 9 PM in a first floor apartment at 6921 Georgia Avenue N.W. Flames were found in the kitchen, and were quickly knocked down.
A working fire dispatch was sounded, but quickly returned
|
| Fourth Battalion Apartment Fire |
September 14, 2008
by Vito Maggiolo
Some residents fled their apartments while others were sheltered in place during an apartment fire in the Fourth Battalion on Sunday, morning, September 14th.
Box alarm companies arrived at 1450 Somerset Place N.W. around 3 AM to find fire showing inside a second floor apartment. A working fire dispatch was sounded as firefighters commenced an interior attack and came to the aid of frightened occupants.
The blaze was contained to the apartment of origin without injuries to either firefighters or civilians.
|
| Scaffolding Collapse In N.W. Injures 2 |
September 15, 2008
by Alan Etter DCFD PIO
Fire & EMS responded at 11:46 AM for the report of two injured construction workers behind the Foxhall Condominiums - 4200 Massachusetts Ave., NW. When firefighters arrived, they found that an approximately 30 foot tall scaffold had apparently fallen over.
One man apparently jumped off the scaffolding as it collapsed; the other fell, apparently landing on his head. The man who jumped landed on his feet and appeared to have suffered broken bones in both legs. The other man suffered a critical head injury but was conscious.
Both men were transported to the closest appropriate facility Metropolitan Police and OSHA were investigating the cause of the incident.
|
| Firefighter From Engine 30 Shot, While On A Medical Local |
September 8, 2008
by Joe Brown www.30Engine.com
|
| Water Main Break In Georgetown |
September 7, 2008
by Vito Maggiolo
A water main break on one of Georgetown's main thoroughfares brought a major response from DCFD and other agencies on Sunday morning, September 7th.
Truck 2 was initially dispatched on what was reported as a water leak in the Starbuck's coffee shop at 33rd and M Streets N.W. They arrived to find water several feet in the store with the plate glass windows bulging from the pressure.
Truck 2 requested a Battalion Chief to the scene. Battalion 6 arrived and promptly escalated the response to a cave-in task force.
Firefighters evacuated apartments on the second and third floors above the store, and began to check for structural stability issues, due to the possibility that the pressurized water may have undermined the structure's foundation.
The Washington Area Sewer Authority (WASA) arrived at the scene and determined the cause of the break started with a hydrant apparent struck during the overnight hours. It than ruptured where it connected to an 8 inch main. The hydrant was almost completely swallowed up into the ground.
Water from the break found its path of least resistance up into the interior of the Starbucks. DC Fire and EMS worked throughout the morning with a multitude of other agencies in order to secure the situation and stabilize the scene.
|
| Additional Pictures From Knox Terrace S.E. |
|
| Quick Knock Down of Attic Fire In N.W. |
September 6, 2008
by Vito Maggiolo
DC firefighters had to contend with severe weather conditions from Tropical Storm Hannah while battling a blaze in an upper Northwest home on Saturday afternoon, September 6th.
Smoke and fire was showing from the attic of a large two story house at 5366 27th Street NW when units arrived around 1:30 PM during a torrential downpour from the storm.
Quick work in opening up and exposing the blaze contained the flames to a small area of the A/B quadrant of the home's attic.
A working fire dispatch was sounded. The only occupied of the house escaped unharmed, and there were no firefighter injuries.
|
| 2 Alarm House Fire In S.E. |
September 5, 2008
by Vito Maggiolo
A fire that roared through a three story lightweight construction home in Southeast required a second alarm to bring it under control on Friday, afternoon, September 5th.
A box alarm assignment arrived at 2738 Knox Terrace S.E. shortly after 3 PM to find the rear of the home fully engulfed, and the rear deck already collapsing.
The flames were so intense that radiant heat had already begun to ignite the siding on exposure "B", a similar dwelling separated by a garage located between the two structures.
Faced with this threat, command requested a second alarm. Despite the severe conditions, firefighters mounted an interior attack in both houses to bring the blaze under control.
One firefighter was transported from the scene with minor injuries
|
| House Fully Involved Upon Arrival In N.E. |
September 4, 2008
by Vito Maggiolo
A fully engulfed frame row dwelling greeted D.C. firefighters responding on a pre-dawn box alarm Thursday morning, September 4th.
Units arrived at 915 3rd Street N.E. around 4:20 AM to find heavy fire throughout the two story structure and extending to exposure D. A working fire dispatch and second alarm were sounded in rapid succession.
An exterior attack was initially mounted on the fire building, and hand lines covered the exposure. There was only slight extension to the adjacent home.
The fire was knocked down without any injuries to firefighters or civilians.
|
 |
|
