Results tagged “dcfireems”

A fire broke out this morning inside an Indian restaurant in the 1700 block of L Street NW, leading to the evacuation of several nearby buildings.

A total of 15 people have been displaced by a house fire that broke out just before noon today at 1408 30th Street SE, according to D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer. The nine adults, six children and various pets who lived in the detached single-family home in the Fort Dupont neighborhood of Southeast D.C. are unable to return home due to significant smoke and fire damage. Firefighters believe the blaze started in the basement, but the cause of the fire is under investigation, Piringer said. Thankfully, no injuries have been reported.

This week's steady rains appear to be to blame for a construction site in the 100 block of 15th Street SE being declared unstable this afternoon. Saturated ground there has caused the walls of a row of commercial buildings currently undergoing renovations to separate, according to D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer. Rescue crews responded to the scene at about 2:45 p.m., and made the call to evacuate the area, including several nearby commercial buildings at 112 and 115 15th Street SE, as well as 1500 Independence Ave. SE. No injuries have been reported.

A pair of large police and emergency responses to report going on downtown today.

A fire broke out on the roof of Kelly's Irish Times pub at a little after 4:30 p.m. this afternoon, according to D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer. The bar, located near Union Station at 14 F Street NW, was evacuated while D.C. firefighters worked to get the blaze under control. Crews are still on the scene working to make sure the fire is completely out and did not extend anywhere else, Piringer said.

A gas leak earlier today inside the Cuban Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy caused part of 16th Street NW to be closed between Euclid St. and Columbia Rd. The road has since reopened and Washington Gas Co. was on the scene to address the leak.

With a big tip of the hat to WTOP, the D.C. Fire/EMS department has just released this 12-minute video about the rescue effort that followed the June 22 Red Line crash, which killed nine people and injured dozens of others.

The video was shot by D.C. Firefighter Vito Maggiolo.

Continue reading "Video of the June 22 Red Line Crash Rescue Effort"

A elderly man was rescued from an apartment fire in Glover Park earlier this morning. The fire broke out at around 10 a.m. in a first floor unit of a three-story apartment building at 2316 40th Place NW. D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer said firefighters pulled the unconscious man, who is approximately 70 years-old, out of the apartment under pretty heavy smoke conditions. Rescue workers successfully resuscitated the man and he was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition. The fire, which has since been knocked down, is said to have caused significant damage, but was apparently confined to the one apartment.

D.C. firefighters responded to an electrical explosion at 1801 K Street NW at around 11 a.m. this morning. It appears as though an electrical transformer on the penthouse level of the building malfunctioned and "basically exploded," said D.C. Fire/EMS spokesperson Pete Piringer.

Read this fascinating story from The New York Times on the D.C. Fire Department's Engine Company 10, by all accounts the busiest firehouse in the country. These Trinidad firefighters at the "House of Pain" spend most of their time not fighting fires, but rather serving as emergency medical responders.

About 80 percent of the calls handled by Engine Company 10 are medical emergencies because the firehouse serves one of the city’s poorest areas, where few residents have health insurance, doctors’ checkups are rare, and medical problems are left to fester until someone dials 911.

The story also makes the point that due to a trending decrease in the number of fires nationwide, many fire departments rely on these medical calls to keep their firefighters employed. Still, it's hard not to see the underlying truths of the current health-care reform debate: our poorer residents don't get good, regular medical care, and the burden of that broken system ends up in the laps of our emergency responders and emergency rooms.