WASHINGTON — A house in Southeast D.C. became so engulfed in flames that it damaged two adjacent houses early Saturday morning.
The fire happened on the 3500 block of 21st Street at around 4 a.m., according to D.C. Fire spokesman Vito Maggiolo.
The heat of the fire was so intense that it ignited a nearby house separated by a 20-foot yard and an attached house on the other side of the initial one.
All three of the homes were occupied at the time of the fire but everyone was able to escape without injury. All nine of the occupants have been displaced, Maggiolo said.
About 75 firefighters were at the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
“The original structure that was involved in the fire was very heavily damaged, has a potential for collapse, so our fire investigators have to move very slowly and carefully,” Maggiolo said.
A sprinkler system in the attached house kept the fire from spreading inside that building and allowed those residents to escape, Maggiolo said.
See video of the fire below, courtesy of D.C. Fire and EMS:
Early video of the 2nd Alarm in the 3500 block of 21st Street SE. pic.twitter.com/Rpx9EqT0Yd
— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) December 23, 2017
A map of the location of the fire is below.
