But we did have to wait outside for 10 minutes while things got checked out.

Two years after the fact, Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells has gone on the record suspecting that the Eastern Market fire was arson. Wells tells the Voice of the Hill:

"'I have a tremendous amount of suspicion that it was arson,' Wells told the Voice immediately after the market reopened Friday."

Eastern Market re-opened today with the expected fanfare. Which is great. But it doesn't erase the screw-ups surrounding that massive blaze. In December 2007, we wrote a piece addressing the concerns of numerous fire fighters that the Eastern Market case was arson. Two arson investigators got bounced off their beat for making their concerns known.

Read More "Not Breaking: Councilmember Wells Suspects Eastern Market Fire Was Arson" »

Fire, 1980's

Smoke, 1989

After 2 a.m. this morning, firefighters responded to a fire in the seven-story Harvard Hall apartments in Adams Morgan. The fire was reportedly contained to a single unit, in which a woman was badly burned.

While the fire's effects were thankfully contained, other Harvard Hall residents are raising questions about the building's safety. Several residents are reporting on an online message board that fire alarms didn't wake them.

Wrote one on a WJLA-TV forum:

I live in the building and perhaps the scariest thing about last night is that the fire alarms throughout the building did not go off. none of them. despite the fact that the 4th, 5th and 6th floor hallways were filled with smoke people were still evacuating over an hour later (many with small children) because they were sound asleep and didn't know that there were 8 firetrucks outside and dozens of firefighters in and around the building.

Read More "Harvard Hall Residents: Fire Alarms Didn’t Work" »

Jonathan Rees may or may not be dead, but the hate he spewed in the comment sections of various local sites is very much alive... and worse than ever. Most egregious case I've seen in awhile comes today on WTOP's item about the 2-year-old triplets in critical condition after a horrendous MoCo fire. The Post's coverage in this a.m.'s paper was pretty thorough. It's a real tragedy. But not to some:

The dad's DHS?!?!!!
and he has no smoke detectors?? what-da-ef? I feel so secure knowing a dad with no smoke detectors is watching my homeland. UnBelievAble.
by kckat @ 11:55am - Thu Dec 4th, 2008

Here's another good one:

This family needs to prioritize.
To be a fly on the wall and listen to the discussion this family had must of been interesting. I wonder if it went something like this:
"Let's not have smoke detectors, but let's get a hot tub, and we'll either wire it ourselves or bring in a guy standing on the corner to wire it. With the money that we save we can hire a nanny who will watch our triplets. Two working battery powered smoke detectors would probably cost us less than $30, but given the cost it will take to heat the hot tub, let's wait."
Must make some of us feel pretty safe that this Dad works for Homeland Security. Be afraid, be very afraid.
by John D. @ 7:56am - Thu Dec 4th, 2008

Or how about someone who derides a man who may lose three children because he has a nice house?

You forgot to mention
the house is probably worth a million. The man should be locked up for child negligence. Unforgivable.

by BAC @ 8:11am - Thu Dec 4th, 2008

This afternoon I visited 1034 Quebec Place, where a massive fire claimed a life this morning. Firemen had a four-block area on lockdown. Pepco technicians were on every corner, assessing potential damage to the grid. Baleful neighbors watched the excavation and gave the professionals a wide berth. One woman told me that her daughter had called 911 before leaving for elementary school.

More photos below the jump.

[D.C. Fire Spokesman Alan Etter didn't have much in the way of updates by C.O.B., except to say that families in the adjoining houses had been displaced and that neither he nor the MPD could identify the victim conclusively.*]

Read More "Photos: Deadly Fire on Quebec Place, NW" »