Six Taken to Hospital After NW DC Apartment Fire

Nearly 200 residents displaced by Saturday fire

Six people, including five firefighters, were taken to the hospital after a fire destroyed a northwest Washington apartment complex early Saturday morning.

D.C. Fire and EMS officials said all six people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. They were treated and released.

Five other people, all residents, were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

More than 200 residents were displaced by the fire that started around 3 a.m. Saturday in the 1300 block of Peabody Street, Northwest. Heavy smoke billowed through three of the four stories in the building, and fire crews used ladders to rescue residents.

"It was just terrible. I looked out the window, and there was just so much smoke," said Larry Minor, who lives near the apartment building.

Fire Chief Gregory Dean said some residents were hanging out of windows to be rescued, and others jumped from the 2nd floor to firefighters below.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the fire is likely one of the largest D.C. has seen in recent memory.

"It's certainly the largest I've seen in Ward 4 in the 10 years that I have been in elected office," Bowser said.

Investigators have not determined a cause for the blaze. Displaced residents stayed at the Emery Recreation Center.

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