D.C. Blaze Displaces Nearly 200

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Fire Destroys Mount Pleasant Apartment Building

A major fire destroyed most of a Mount Pleasant apartment building late Wednesday night and early Thursday, forcing hundreds from their beds and damaging a neighboring church.

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After the fire was extinguished, Rubin said, 75 fire department recruits went through the building to retrieve residents' belongings.

Residents made lists of what they hoped could be retrieved, including passports, computer equipment, pictures, baby bottles, wallets and clothing.

The crowd applauded when one firefighter retrieved a loudly meowing black and white cat.

Firefighters also saved equipment essential to Carlito de la Rosa's life as "D.J. Hostility." Firefighters who happened to be the local disc jockey's fans rescued boxes of vinyl records, mixing boards and computer equipment from his apartment.

"I got home around 2:35 a.m., from a club I was working at, and saw the fire," de la Rosa said. "It was intense. Crazy. I thought I was watching everything I had worked for go up in flames."

Database editor Sarah Cohen; staff writers Sylvia Moreno, Howard Schneider and Debbi Wilgoren; and staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.