A fire broke out in the Old Executive Building on the White House grounds Wednesday, damaging sections of the vice president’s offices and forcing top security officials to scramble for safety.
The blaze originated on the second floor at about 9:30 a.m., in an electrical closet or telephone bank in the second floor, a White House spokeswoman said. Vice President Dick Cheney was in the West Wing with President Bush and not in the building when the fire started.
Cynthia Ball, a member of the administrative staff of the National Security Council, said she stepped into a third-floor hallway just in time to see a wall of black smoke advancing toward her.
“I was very nervous,” Ball said. “When you see smoke like that you realize this is not a test.”
It took District of Columbia fire crews about 40 minutes to control the blaze. The only injury involved a U.S. Marine who cut his hand after he smashed a fifth-floor window to release the choking smoke, said D.C. fire department spokesman Alan Etter.
Afterward, Bush and Cheney stepped out of the White House to slap the backs of D.C. firefighters and thank them for their work.
“The president and Mrs. Bush and the vice president really appreciate all the work that the D.C. firefighters did and the Secret Service to make sure that all the White House employees were safe,” said White House press secretary Dana Perino.
Officially known as the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building, it sits at 17th Street Northwest and Pennsylvania Avenue. The granite, slate and cast iron exterior makes the building one of America’s best examples of the French Second Empire style of architecture.
Fast Facts
» The Old Executive Office Building, a National Historic Landmark, was built between 1871 and 1888, for the State, War and Navy departments.
» The building now houses the Office of Management and Budget and staff of the National Security Council and other agencies.
» Winston Churchill once walked its corridors and Japanese emissaries met with the secretary of state there after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
» Al Gore conceded the 2000 election in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office, which is also housed in the building.
