About 100 Washington D.C. firefighters spent their Halloween battling a two-alarm fire in a warehouse in the Union Market complex of the nation’s capital.
The fire engulfed the two-story structure at 1259 4th Street NE that housed a wholesale business selling souvenir merchandise around 10 p.m. The building was packed with stock, providing a very heavy fire load and a dangerous maze for firefighters to maneuver in. Further complicating efforts to battle the fire was the tightly secured nature of the warehouse, making forcible entry and ventilation extremely difficult.
Despite these challenges, units initiated an interior attack, knocking down considerable fire on the first floor. However, the flames had already extended to engulf the floor above.
The incident commander ordered the building be evacuated as crews mounted a master stream assault on the fire.
Eventually 100 firefighters and support personnel, manning approximately 20 pieces of apparatus responded to the scene.
