Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Sunday's Fire @3rd & H

Reader Justin Roth sent in the following photos and info on a residential fire that occurred around 8pm Sunday night. This is basically behind the liquor store and the vacant lot. The fire reportedly gutted one home, and damaged another. The fire required H Street to close for hours between the bridge and 5th Street. Justin says he's told that the homeowner fell asleep while cooking. I haven't received any reports of injuries.

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13 comments:

Sean Hennessey said...

fires are so terrifying. i'm glad there were no injuries, but its still such a sad hardship on people to loose everything.

Unknown said...

All did get out safely, according to word on the street that night & since.

DCFD deployed a lot of trucks on the fire, which broke out about 8:30pm. They seemed to get plenty of water pressure. I saw firsthand that the hydrant near 635 3rd St. was pumping water when the hooked on & for hours after.

One witness saw the big ladder truck plow right thru a chain link fence around the mentioned vacant lot on H.

I too have heard from several neighbors that the owner fell asleep while cooking. The owner may have escaped thru a window.

Any word on how bad the damage to the adjoining house was?

Anonymous said...

FELL ASLEEP while COOKING at 8:30pm??

And no one finds this ridiculous?

Anonymous said...

I think the posted comments about falling asleep while cooking is a plausible reason. People fall asleep while smoking all the time (fires result). This is not very different. I am glad to hear there were no injuries. Property can be replaced.

Anonymous said...

word on the street is that the owner had no electricity -- in fact hadn't for years -- and was cooking on open fire in the house.

Anonymous said...

So he FELL ASLEEP while COOKING over and OPEN FIRE at freaking 8:30PM because he HASN'T HAD ELECTRICITY for YEARS?

Yeah--that makes it LESS ridiculous, eh Anon 5:35.

I stand by my initial knee-jerk reaction.

Jesus, if this guy were my neighbor and any of my house got burned, I'd throw this idiot on an open flame of my own.

Anonymous said...

such compassion for your fellow human...grow up anon 5:53

Anonymous said...

Agreed. A house fire is a terrible thing, give the poor guy the benefit of the doubt. It could happen to any of us.

How are the guy and the neighbor doing?

Anonymous said...

Yeah poor guy. Hasn't had electricity for years for some reason and was cooking over an open flame, somehow forgot about it and fell asleep at 8:30pm in the evening.

Eff that--Honestly, think about how reckless that is. And worse, what if he had destroyed someone else's house with his recklessness?? Or WORSE, what if someone else had DIED because of it? It's not out of the realm of possiblity. These old row-houses have been known to catch fire in succession relatively quickly.

Frankly this a-hole is very fortunate that not only was his dumbass spared, but the property and lives of others as well. But I will certainly NOT sit here and feel sorry for this idiot and find it odd that you all do.

7th and H said...

"word on the street is that the owner had no electricity -- in fact hadn't for years -- and was cooking on open fire in the house."

until this claim is proven to actually be true, all of the speculation and name calling (yeah, i'm talking to you, anon 8:57) doesn't really achieve anything. Oh, I guess it allows you to fire off under the cover of anonymous. Cause, you know...that takes balls.

-Jim (7th and H)

Anonymous said...

On my ten years on the Hill, I have witnessed five different fires within a block of where I live, including one immediately next door. I think we should be grateful of how speedy and effective D.C. actually is at fighting fires and minimizing damage to property and others (which, when we are dealing with blocks of rowhouses can happen fast), rather than insulting our neighbors.

inked said...

Agreed. I don't know the details here (and nor do most of the posters). I've had elderly neighbors who've started fires by falling asleep while smoking. It isn't beyond believe that someone could fall asleep with something on the stove. I'm just glad everyone made it out ok. And i'm glad the fire department was able to minimize the damage.

poo poo goes to syria soon said...

yeah. dcfd gets kudos for their work in the district. they are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

no sh*t.

if only the rest of dc agencies were as good...........