It was a busy night for firefighters in Northwest D.C., after a church and two adjacent buildings went up in flames on Sunday.
The fire started just before 7 p.m. in the 5200 block of Georgia Avenue NW.
More than 100 firefighters responded to the blaze as smoke billowed from the top of the buildings.
“Our biggest challenge, our most immediate challenge, was preventing further spread of the fire,” D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson Vito Maggiolo said.
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No one inside the buildings was hurt, but a firefighter did suffer injuries that were not life-threatening.
“I feel very bad, you know, because it was hard for me to buy this property and now when I see the way it is right now inside, I don’t want to go inside,” said Jose Diaz, who owns the building.
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Karen Serpas, a worker inside the Mariachi Restaurant and Bar, recorded video of the flames.
“It was full of smoke, and we all ran out,” she said.
Raul Lopez, who owns the restaurant, said he has about 15 employees who are now temporarily out of work.
Ambzam Misgina, a business owner who is about to open a restaurant a few doors down, said he was shocked when he heard the news but was thankful it wasn’t worse.
“Wow, I was so nervous. I thought the entire building was on fire, but thank God it’s saved and the fire department is close by, so it was good luck for us,” Misgina said.
Investigators said the fire started after someone was grilling behind the church, which neighbors said has been vacant for years. It’s not believed to have been intentionally set.
Karen Abbott, who lives next to where the fire started, said she’s noticed people starting fires behind the vacant church a few times and has had to call the fire department before. She said she was scared something like this would happen.
“It could’ve been my house. That’s what I think,” she said. “It could’ve been my house. It could’ve jumped over here on my fence, onto my storage. It could’ve been us. It could’ve been the whole neighborhood.”
There is no word yet on estimated damage.
