WASHINGTON — A fire burned through a historic building in D.C.’s Tenleytown neighborhood on Monday evening, and multiple other fires in the area had to be extinguished as well.
DC Fire and EMS first tweeted about the fire shortly before 6:30 p.m., which was burning in a dumpster in the 4400 block of Wisconsin Avenue, Northwest.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, the fire had extended to an adjacent commercial building. The fire spread to the first and second floors of the building.
The fire department said the flames were under control shortly before 7:30 p.m. Fire officials said there were additional fires in the immediate area that were also extinguished.
DC Fire & EMS work to put out four fires along the 4400 block of Wisconsin Ave
“When we were battling this fire, we received calls for three additional trash fires in the vicinity,” said Vito Maggiolo, public information officer for DC Fire and EMS. “We sent units to all three of those and extinguished them with no structural involvement. So our investigators are here, and they’re going to be conducting an active investigation into the circumstances of these several fires.”
Maggiolo said investigators will be looking into whether or not the fires were intentionally set.
The building that was on fire is decorated with murals. The fire department said the building was built in 1887 and is the oldest in the Grant Road Historic District. One of the murals depicted the Tenleytown firehouse in the horse drawn era.
Maggiolo said that the buildings in the area were commercial, so no families were expected to be displaced as a result of the fire.
The 4400 block of Wisconsin Avenue, Northwest, between Tenley Circle and Albemarle Street and Fort Drive were closed during the fire department’s operation and investigation.
No injuries were reported.