Two-alarm fire breaks out at U Street apartment building
|
Version 0 of 1. A two-alarm fire damaged a four-story apartment building along the U Street corridor Friday morning, forcing the evacuation of residents, according to authorities. No injuries were reported, and D.C. Fire Chief Gregory M. Dean said the building's sprinklers helped confine the fire to the interior courtyard and knocked down most of the flames. Dozens of firefighters sped to the building, which occupies a city block on 12th Street between U and V streets NW, a normally busy area for both traffic and pedestrians. Some firefighters were seen on the rooftop. Dean said smoke that could be seen blocks away billowed from first floor and over the streets. The fire, which broke out about 10:30 a.m., was under control by 11:30 a.m., though firefighters were still dousing hot spots with water. A cause had not been determined. D.C. Police Officer Warren Jones said that everyone got out on their own and there were no rescues. He said it appeared that the fire started on one of the balconies near the courtyard on the east side of the building and spread along outside balconies. The smoke was thick at times. One family with an infant confirmed official accounts that the fire began on the courtyard side on the first floor. Doug Nidzgorsky and his wife, Christina Parisi, said they were packing their luggage for a flight to Vermont with their 1-year-old when the fire alarm went off. Nidzgorsky said he opened the door to their second-floor apartment and the smoke was up to his waist. He put 1-year-old Mila in her car seat, Christina grabbed a diaper bag and the two fled down an entranceway leading to an alley off of U street. They were greeted by a team of firefighters running toward the building with an axes and hoses, as a a ladder truck raised a bucket above their heads. As fire crews continued to descend on the block, the two sat across the street on the phone with their airline trying to rebook the flight. “If only we had grabbed one more bag we could have just gone” straight to the airport, he said. “But once I saw that smoke we were just getting out of there.” Brock Pierson, 39, was comforting his rescue dog, Ozzy, on the sidewalk across the street while waiting for more information from the fire department. “It’s a real fire, guys,” he told two neighbors as their dogs barked and sniffed each other. Pierson was in his third-floor apartment when he heard the fire alarm go off. “I got him ready and when we saw the smoke in the hallway, we took off running,” he said. He has lived in the building for almost five years and said nothing like this has happened there before. “We’ve had kitchen fires and smoke alarms, but nothing to this extent,” he said. Ozzy wears a vest that says “in training, do not pet” that his owner says he puts on him just because he already has difficulty with strangers. “This situation is not helping him,” he said while petting his nervous dog. Peter Hermann contributed to this report |