An underground fire shot flames 30 feet in the air blackening a corner of the W Hotel and cutting power for blocks just east of the White House Saturday evening.
No one was hurt by the fire, which appeared to have been caused by a transformer housed under a grate in the 1400 block of F Street NW. The Willard the W hotels were evacuated as a precaution said D.C. fire department spokesman Pete Piringer.
“It was pretty spectacular,” said Piringer. “Flames were going up 20 to 30 feet”
Some 150 firemen converged on the blaze, dousing the W Hotel and an attached building with water to prevent damage, said Piringer. Even trainees from the Maurice T. Turner Jr., Metropolitan Police Academy were called in to direct traffic
Bianka Milton and Dart Williams had been on their way to the Hotel W to celebrate Milton’s birthday.
“I saw a lot of smoke, said Williams, “and a lot of fire trucks.”
Just before 8:30 the power went out for several blocks north and east of the fire sending disappointed diners and puzzled restaurant staff into the streets from the neighborhood’s many eateries.
There had been explosions earlier said Piringer, referring to the transformer fire, and one, possibly two, manholes in the area were reported to be smoking.
“Transformers are surrounded by oil,” explained Piringer. “They get overloaded. Sometimes they overheat. That is apparently what happened here.”
