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Fire Causes Minor Injuries at Home for Seniors and Disabled
A fire broke out in a nine-story apartment building in Northwest Washington that caters to the elderly and the disabled, causing minor injuries to more than a dozen people yesterday, authorities said.
Firefighters rescued two people at Harvard Towers, in the 1800 block of Harvard Street.
The blaze started about 1 a.m. when a cigarette ignited a carpet, said Alan Etter, spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. A man who had been smoking on the fifth floor fell asleep, Etter said.
One man and a firefighter were sent to a hospital but quickly released. About a dozen others were treated for minor injuries at the scene, Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin said.
The fire caused about $50,000 in damage to the building, which the D.C. Housing Authority owns. One apartment was damaged severely, forcing the relocation of its occupants. Rubin credited firefighter Tony Kelleher, firefighter-paramedic Lynette Kramer and fire Lt. Richard Copeland with rescuing the two residents.
-- Allison Klein
City Prepares to Fix Buildings, Bill Church That Owns Them
The D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs' condemnation board declared three vacant Ninth Street NW buildings owned by Shiloh Baptist Church "insanitary" yesterday, which allows the District to repair the buildings and charge the church for the work.
Church members, however, say they are determined to make repairs -- which include new roofs, gutters and downspouts, in addition to several interior and structural fixes -- before the city has time to collect bids, hire a contractor and set a start date, said Thomas Bowen, Shiloh's minister of fellowship and outreach. A lack of money is the main reason the buildings, in the 1500 block of Ninth Street, reached this level of disrepair, he said.
The city will allow the church to do the work, but time is running out, said Karyn-Siobhan Robinson, a regulatory agency spokeswoman.
