Three separates fires took place within a mile of one another in Georgetown early New Year’s morning, including one that led to the brief evacuation of a boutique hotel.
No injuries have been reported and D.C. fire officials say they are investigating whether the three fires are related.
According to DC Fire and EMS, the first fire broke out around 6:30 a.m. in the women’s bathroom at the Georgetown Inn located in the 1300 block of Wisconsin Avenue in Northwest. Guests were evacuated briefly as firefighters extinguished the blaze.
Shabnam Rezayee, a hotel employee, told WTOP that a woman who appeared to be homeless had been seen entering and leaving the women’s bathroom only moments before the fire was detected.
“A homeless woman, she came to use the bathroom … Then she went out and, after that, we found the fire.”
Rezayee also said “Everything is open now. Everything is normal. Still the smell — it’s a bit of smoke — but we left everything open as we clean up.”
After the fire at Georgetown Inn was extinguished, firefighters leaving the area spotted a second fire in a dumpster in the 3100 block of M Street Northwest. That fire was quickly put out, according to officials.
Only minutes later, around 7:10 a.m., another fire was reported outside a 5-story office building in the 3300 block of Water Street Northwest alongside the Whitehurst Freeway.
Though there was a “considerable amount of smoke,” the fire did not reach the interior of the building and it was put out relatively quickly, DC Fire and EMS told WTOP.
