DISTRICT BRIEFING

TAXICAB COMMISSION

Price of a Ride Drops Today With End of Fuel Surcharge

The District's taxicab fuel surcharge is being ditched, a welcome casualty of declining gas prices.

Sherry A. Tillman, an official with the D.C. Taxicab Commission, said the $1 surcharge will be rescinded, effective today.

-- David Betancourt

HOUSE FIRES

Woman and Man Rescued From Separate Blazes

D.C. firefighters pulled a 50-year-old woman from a burning building in Northeast Washington yesterday.

D.C. fire department spokesman Alan Etter said firefighters found the woman, whom they did not identify, in the living room of a house in the 900 block of Mount Olivet Road NE shortly before 1 p.m. The woman, who was not breathing and had critical burns, was taken to a hospital.

Firefighters also pulled a 66-year-old man from his burning bed early Tuesday. A neighbor in the unit block of Gallatin Street NW saw smoke coming from a house across the street about 4:20 a.m. and called 911.

Both fires are under investigation.