D.C. Fire Officials, WASA Point Fingers After Blaze

As to whether the department should have gone outside Adams Morgan, to Woodley Park, for water, Rubin said such action would have been precluded had firefighters had enough water when they arrived at the scene. Asked whether the lack of water contributed to the acceleration of the fire, Rubin said: "Tremendously. We feel we should have handled this as a two-alarm fire."

Graham said he was seeking answers to several key questions.

"Our firefighters did not fail us at the scene, but our water system surely did," he said. "Knowing what we know now, is Adams Morgan safe in another major fire? How could it happen that entire neighborhoods are under threat of burning to the ground?"

Firefighters were impeded in their job because of the century-old six-inch water mains in Adams Morgan, which were unable to supply water fast enough to put out the fire, officials said.

No one was seriously injured, but damage to the building was estimated to be in the millions. Authorities determined that the fire was accidental, started by an electrical problem near the roof deck.

Of the city's 1,300 miles of water lines, 13 percent, or 173 miles, are six inches in diameter. Most date to the 1800s and early 1900s and are scheduled to be replaced under a 20-year facilities plan WASA adopted in 2000.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), Graham and fire officials have called for immediate action to address aging and undersize mains throughout the city. Yesterday, the 11-member WASA board directed the agency's general manager, Jerry Johnson, and his staff to "reevaluate its approach and schedule for water main upgrades."

Board Chairman Robin B. Martin ordered a one-month turnaround for a comprehensive evaluation of District neighborhoods that are served by small-size mains. The agency, he said, must ensure "that there is an adequate supply of water within a reasonable distance to provide adequate coverage."

The water mains are the responsibility of WASA, which was criticized this year by city officials for not acting quickly enough to fix broken fire hydrants. The complaints came after a major fire at the Georgetown public library, where the first two hydrants tapped by firefighters did not work. They wound up using hydrants about two blocks away.

The District is one of many cities struggling with aging water pipelines. A 2001 report by the American Water Works Association estimated that U.S. jurisdictions would have to spend $250 billion over 30 years to replace worn-out water pipes and related structures.

Many of the mains date from building booms in the late-1800s and first half of the 20th century and are reaching the end of their usefulness, the report said. It predicted "significant increases" in the rate at which pipes break and said some municipalities would find their pipes too small to carry the amount of water needed for firefighting or other uses.

Alan Roberson, director of security and regulatory affairs for the American Water Works Association, cautioned that the flow of water to a fire involves more than the size of the water main in the neighborhood.

"Size of the line is a factor, but it's one factor," he said. Other issues include the level of corrosion of a pipe and its distance from a pumping station. "If you have an eight-inch line with corrosion, it could be worse than a six-inch line that's pretty clean," he said.

Roberson said the number of six-inch mains in the District does not seem unusually high. The bottom line, he said, is that city authorities "need to have some kind of regular system for testing these hydrants" throughout the District.