D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to a small fire at an I Street apartment complex Monday.
Vito Maggiolo, a FEMS spokesperson, said officials dispatched about 50 personnel and 10 vehicles to the President Condominium at the 2100 Block of I Street in response to a report of smoke in the building at 6:28 p.m. He said FEMS discovered a small “structural” fire on the sixth floor of the complex upon responding, which he said appeared to be extinguished by about 6:45 p.m.
Maggiolo said there have been no reports of injuries and that FEMS personnel do not yet know the cause of the fire.
Maggiolo said investigators were still working on the scene to determine the cause as of 8:23 p.m. He said the occupants of the affected unit were not home when the fire began.
Tyler Wilson, a first-year law student, said he heard “abnormally loud” voices outside his sixth-floor apartment. He said he left his apartment and saw smoke.
“I realized that this was not just normal activity, street activity,” he said.
Mike Weilandt, a resident of the building, said he smelled smoke while taking the elevator, then saw a large crowd in the lobby. He said someone reported choking on the smoke.
“I got to the lobby, and it was packed down there,” he said.
Weilandt said the fire engines had already arrived by the time he evacuated. He said the fire was “small” and visible from the window.