D.C. fire investigators will need to determine the cause of a top-floor fire that sent flames shooting from the windows of Metro’s downtown headquarters Wednesday morning. “We do have a team of fire investigators here and and once conditions are safe, they’ll go on up to the eighth floor and begin their work,” said Vito Maggiolo, spokesman for D.C. Fire and EMS. Around 6:16 a.m., the fire department received an automatic fire alarm from the building. “We immediately began an aggressive fire attack, and despite the initial heavy fire conditions that we encountered on arrival, we were able to extinguish the fire in relatively short time. We continue to conduct ventilation efforts,” Maggiolo said.
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“We’re also conducting salvage operations working in conjunction with Metro to minimize the amount of damage in the building from water and smoke,” Maggiolo said. The two-alarm fire, which has been put out, was on the 6th Street side of the building that takes up an entire city block. The building is at 600 5th St., NW. Sixth and 5th streets between H and E streets are closed. “As has been the case with the downtown area in recent months, there appears to be very little traffic and very few pedestrians around,” Maggiolo said. D.C. Fire said 100 firefighters were on the scene. The building was safely evacuated and there were no injuries. Maggiolo said. [custom_gallery]
