In Chaos, Firefighters Become Masters of Risk

Crews Have Fought To Shed City's Label Of Poor Work Ethic

The Eastern Market building, which caught fire early Monday, was "like a Roman candle," said Lt. Mickey Shymansky of Engine 3. (By Carol Guzy -- The Washington Post)

Firefighting involves its share of downtime, and Sunday at Engine 3 was a chance to soak up some sun in the station's driveway.

About 7:30 p.m., the firefighters and paramedics at the New Jersey Avenue station in Northwest Washington, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol, sat down to eat pork roast with mashed potatoes, green beans and a salad. Units responded to an emergency medical call about 9 and then settled in for a quiet end to the 7 a.m.-to-7 a.m. shift.

Just before 1 a.m. came the call about a fire at Eastern Market.

"You go from stillness to an Indy race," said Lt. Mickey Shymansky, who corralled his four-member team and raced across Capitol Hill.

By Monday's end, more than 400 firefighters and support personnel had raced out of stations to fight blazes that ripped through two of the city's most historic buildings, Eastern Market and the Georgetown public library. The chaotic day thrust the city's Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, including the new chief, Dennis L. Rubin, into the spotlight. For some in the department, it was a chance at civic redemption.

Last year, the city's inspector general cited an "impaired work ethic" in the agency after emergency workers botched the case of David E. Rosenbaum, a New York Times reporter who died two days after he was mugged near his Northwest home.

"It was a black eye," said Shymansky, who has been a member of the department for 11 years.

Early Monday, Shymansky saw flames shooting out of the windows of the red-brick market building at Seventh and C streets SE as his engine company pulled up to the scene. The first challenge: Open the heavy green doors, which were bolted shut with padlocks and iron bars, to get an army of firefighters inside so they could directly fight the blaze.

A crew from another firetruck used sledgehammers and carbon-tipped saws to open many of the building's doors. Shymansky and his crew entered near the center of the building to mount an aggressive attack. But the fire was only getting bigger. Flames covered the walls behind the bakery and deli stands and were moving toward the roof.

"As we started to make the attack, we saw fire behind us as well," Shymansky said. "And that's not good, because you always want to keep the fire in check."

Eastern Market, with its high ceilings and vast open space, started to heat up like an oven. More than 30 firefighters were inside, lined up along hoses and blasting the walls with 600 gallons of water a minute, but the blaze was unyielding.

"It was a point of frustration because in what we were trying to do, our efforts were unsuccessful," Shymansky said later, looking at the charred building.