4-Alarm Fire: Low Water Pressure Hinders Firefighting

The four-alarm fire on Adams Mill Road, north of Calvert Street in Northwest, started at about 1:15 a.m., destroying the four-story apartment building and displacing residents of more than 30 units.

It took nearly eight hours to bring the fire under control because the neighborhood is only served by an 8-inch water main.

"Whenever you access one hydrant, you're going to lose pressure in another area of the system," D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Alan Etter tells WTOP. "Once we were able to tap that 20-inch main, we had plenty of water to deal with this."

The 20-inch main turned out to be across Connecticut Avenue. It took more than 2,000 feet of fire hoses to connect to it.

The fire caused the roof of the apartment building to collapse. That apartment building is completely destroyed. A total of three buildings had to be evacuated.

Etter says two firefighters suffered injuries from falling debris, but nobody else was injured.

Etter says a temporary shelter is being set up at Engine 21 on the 1700 block of Lanier Place, and the Red Cross is assisting people displaced from their homes.

(Copyright 2007 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)