Fire today at Hubbard Place apartments at 14th and Otis, put out quickly with no injuries

Just got this note and a photo from a local resident -- there was a fire today in the Hubbard Place building at 3500 14th Street NW. Here's more from the tipster:

one of the machines at the shoe repair shop caught fire at around 3:30pm, forcing many residents out of their apts at Hubbard Place...3500 14th st & Otis. Mr. Willie called 911 and used his fire extinguisher. 5 fire trucks and lots of dc's bravest had everything under control quickly. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Glad to hear it, and glad that both the resident, Mr. Willie, and the fire department were able to get to it quickly. 

Two families displaced in 1489 Newton fire, fundraiser on Dec. 4

Recently a fire burned a few units in 1489 Newton Street NW, a recently renovated affordable housing coop called Newton Street Cooperative, making two families homeless and destroying everything they had. It's a shame for them and for the building, which has the building has been a nice story -- residents are transforming it and making it nicer while still keeping it affordable. 

Luckily the fire didn't spread to neighboring units or buildings, but the damage was severe for the residents. Here's an email from Jim Graham's chief of staff, passed along by ANC1A chair Kent Boese.

My neighbor, Wayde Curry who is also copied in on this e-mail , was one of the first persons to action on the day of the devastating fire that took place at 1489 Newton St NW. .
He jumped into action and alerted and warned the adjacent properties of the fire. Thank God after the smoke cleared we found that there were no casualties or serious injuries. .
There were two families directly impacted and displaced, Mrs. Jane Lewis , 70 yrs. old in apt. 22 where the fire originated, is staying with her son for the time being and the second tenant Ms. Dale Walters, in apt. #2 was displaced because of the water damage. She has 4 children. She was headed to a hotel on 14th Street , sponcered by the Red Cross, who was on the scene and working with both families.  

Mr. Curry is planning a fund raiser for both tenants, on Wednesday December 4th at 6:00pm, at 1477 Newton St, NW Washington DC , in the community room. Please come out and show your support to our neighbors on this very special time of year and share this message with everyone you can.

A neighbor sent this too, with some more info:

On Nov 27, our neighbors Mrs Jane Lewis (74) and Miss Dale Walter of 1489 Newton Street became homeless due to an early morning fire that destoryed all they owned!! (A day before Thanksgiving). 

We their concerned neighbors have decided to host a fundraiser on Dec 4 at The Haven House Building (Meeting Room) at 1477 Newton St at 6 pm. 

There Mrs Lewis and Miss Walters will be present.
Please come out and share your love and your support.
For more information, please contact Wayde Curry (202) 710-0064

Community meetings about loud fire truck sirens (no, really)

Are you annoyed when fire truck sirens make noise when they're on their way to put out fires and save people's lives? If so, here are some meetings for you.

I'm being somewhat sarcastic here, but some neighbors have organized a couple of community meetings to complain about the noise generated by emergency vehicles from the 14th and Monroe street firehouse. See the flyer above. They invited DC fire chief Kenneth Ellerbe and people from Councilmember Graham and Mendelson to come, plus ANC commish Pat Flynn.

Now I do agree that fire trucks are noisy -- but that's the whole idea. People are supposed to hear them so they get out of the way and the trucks are able to go as quickly as possible to put out the fire or administer medical care.

I also admit that I don't live next to a firehouse and I'm sure it can get tiresome to hear sirens all the time. But at the same time, if you live next to a firehouse, you should expect some fire truck sounds, just as if you live next to a hospital you'll hear ambulances, or if you live next to an airport you will probably hear some planes flying. That's living in a city. And it's not like this fire station just opened a week ago and it would be a surprise to residents -- it opened in 1895! That's 118 years that people should have known that a fire station is nearby.

I'm sure it's annoying, but to me there are much bigger issues out there than fire trucks that are supposed to be loud being loud. What's next, people being mad that ambulances drive fast? That coffee is hot? (Ok, I guess that is already an issue.)

Feel free to disagree in the comments or let me know what you think if you live in that area. Personally, I always thought that Zeba Bar, across from the fire station, should have a special drink deal when the fire truck siren goes off, $1 beers or something. That would be pretty fun.

UPDATE:  Maryam, the organizer, just wrote me in response to an email. Here's what she had to say.

People do argue that [if you're living near a fire house, you'll hear sirens] and they also have many other good arguments for why everyone should just tolerate the noise.   We all understand that we live near a firehouse and of course we want our tax dollars to be put to good use, so some level of noise is inevitable.  However, the noise has recently gone from present to omnipresent and oppressive.  

THE ISSUE

At this point, the narrow issue we want to eliminate is the excessive use of Monroe Street as a main east-west thoroughfare for the emergency vehicles and the related increase in sirens and noise.  After quite a bit of investigation, we believe - although at our community meetings we may find out otherwise - that there are two relatively simple fixes.  

THE SOLUTIONS 

First, the new medians on 14th Street just north of Park Road must be removed because they 1) create more traffic that 2) forces some of the emergency vehicles to use Monroe Street because they cannot get down the other east-west streets quickly enough.  Second, there are several new spots on our narrow street that were added in January that make it difficult for emergency vehicles to get through the narrow street, which is not ideal for them or for us because it causes them to lay on their horns and turn sirens on sooner and longer to try to get people out of the way. 

By the way, since we started this small effort to get everyone in our neighborhood together to speak with our elected officials and relevant agency officials, I have received emails from people all over the city who also are harmed by and tired of the excessive noise.  If you have visited other cities or even other more affluent parts of our own city, you surely have noticed that the type and level of noise is significantly less.  In the balance of citizens' right to be free from noise pollution with the community's need for safety, the citizens' voices are not being heard.  We seek to strike a better balance between emergency services and citizens. 

I am by no means an expert, but I do know that we barely get a full night's sleep and that our son is scared of the sirens, wakes up from naps and in the middle of the night crying from the excessive sirens, and these noises also interfere with enjoyment of our beautiful neighborhood and the beautiful park on 11th and Monroe.  We have the right to enjoy our property and our neighborhood, and we will not tolerate this noise any longer.

Smart 9-1-1 takes emergency response to the next level

By the Otis Place correspondent

Smart 9-1-1 is more than start.  It’s brilliant.  Land lines are becoming a thing of the past.  But what happens if you call 9-1-1 from your cell phone during an emergency at your house, and you get cut off before you can give your address?  Smart 9-1-1 has the answer. And so much more.

As a representative of 9-1-1 explained at last week’s ANC 1A meeting, you can now go to www.smart911.com  and provide emergency responders as much or as little information as you choose that can help them help you when you need it most.  Like your recurring medical condition, medications and blood type so they know better how to treat you in an emergency.  Pictures of your kids so they can tell the difference between Marcia, Jan and Cindy.  A picture of your house so they can find it easily.  Cell phone numbers of all your house mates so that if any of them calls there’s an address associated with each one. 

I went on the website, and in about 15 minutes I created a profile for me and my partner.  I’ll go back later to add some photos and a profile for our house mate once I get his permission.  And then, as the Smart 9-1-1 website says,  when anyone in my house dials 9-1-1 from a phone associated with their safety profile, “their profile is immediately displayed to the 9-1-1 call taker providing additional information that can be used to facilitate the proper response to the proper location. At a time when seconds count, being able to provide 9-1-1 with all details that could impact response the second an emergency call is placed could be the difference between life and death.”

But shouldn’t all work places register too?  I’m just thinking out loud here….

Fire tears through vacant hotel at 14th and Quincy

Fire hit the old C & K Hotel on the 3700 block of 14th Street NW, across from the Red Derby on Sunday. The building, which is actually three connected rowhouses, was sold to a developer about a year ago and has been vacant for some time.

DCist reports the plans were to demolish it and build a 20-unit residential building with ground floor retail, which sounds ideal for that location. It sounds especially good considering the building's history: neighbors say it used to be a brothel and site of drug dealing, and before that was one of the city's few transient hotels.

The owner has been trying to demolish it for some time, but wasn't able to due to some issues with Washington Gas, though they actually filed plans last week. Let's hope the fire doesn't delay those plans too much.

Councilmember Muriel Bowser posted on the Spring-Perry listserve that they're working with DCRA to make sure the building is secured and will update with the owner's cleanup and development plans.

Two firefighters were sent to the hospital with smoke-related injuries.

ANC 1A01 commisioner Lisa Kralovic sent me these pictures of the building after the fire, which started in the back.