Twelve people are without homes after an intense fire tore through a pair of rowhouses in the Anacostia neighborhood of Southeast D.C. late Monday, authorities say.
Video shows flames leaping from the homes on 14th Street SE as more than 100 firefighters responded. No injuries were reported.
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WATCH HEREThe natural gas-fueled fire erupted just before 10 p.m., catching many residents by surprise. Some were fast asleep.
“I heard the banging – bang, bang, bang! So, finally, I opened the door and my neighbor said, ‘Get out! Get out the house!’” resident Rick Dudley said.
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SIGN UP His neighbors alerted him to the danger as the fire burned just two doors away. The smoke found its way into his home.
“Great neighbors looked out, banging to get me out of there. I was really asleep,” Dudley said.
The fire spread from the basement of a rowhouse and leapt up to the roof within minutes. Then flames jumped to the homes on either side.
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“You could feel the fire as soon as I left my door. It was really hot, blazing. The whole back of the house was lit up,” resident Lisa Gomes said.
The fire moved so fast because it was fueled by natural gas, DC Fire and EMS said. The home’s gas meter was in an area engulfed by fire, so crews couldn’t close the valve.
“The fire was being constantly fed by gas. Every time we’d knock the basement fire down, it would reignite because of the gas, and you can’t extinguish it because if you extinguish a gas fire, then you’ve got free-flowing gas and you’ve got a worse situation,” said DC FEMS spokesperson Vito Maggiolo.
The gas company arrived and shut off the gas from the street, which let firefighters extinguish the fire completely.
Twelve people are searching for somewhere to live, but no one was hurt. The cause is still unknown.
