4-Alarm Blaze Brings Scrutiny to WASA

HOMEOWNERS WHO LIVE NEAR FIRE STATIONS are often given better insurance rates because of close proximity to those who can put out flames. But that theory didn't hold water for residents in the Lanier Heights section of Adams Morgan.

Being around the corner from the Lanier Place firehouse and up the hill from the U Street NW fire station did the residents of an Adams Mill Road building no good early Monday morning when fire fighters responding to a fierce blaze were greeted by low water pressure in the neighborhood. Fortunately, residents were safely evacuated. Two firefighters received non life-threatening injuries.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham were quick to take the quasi-independent D.C. Water and Sewer Authority to task for the low levels of water firefighters had to make due with initially because of a woefully inadequate water main network in densely packed Adams Morgan. WASA said there's a 20-year plan to improve the century-old water pipes; Fenty clearly wants a quicker response and called on WASA to replace the inadequate lines "just as soon as humanly possible."

Frustrations with WASA, which has in recent years dealt with high lead levels in D.C.'s drinking water and this spring's discovery of broken and neglected fire hydrants across the city following the disastrous April fire at the Georgetown public library, pictured at right.

To illustrate the obstacles D.C. firefighters faced early Monday morning, let's look at the response by the numbers, as reported by The Post's Sylvia Moreno and Allison Klein:

» 30: The number of minutes it took for water to slow to a trickle following the initial response to the 1:20 a.m. blaze.
» 25: The number of minutes fire fighters spend searching Adams Morgan for hydrants with an adequate water supply.
» 3,000: The number of feet firefighters ran hoses to available water at Columbia Road and 16th Street NW.
» 4,000: The number of feet firefighters ran hoses to available water across Rock Creek Park to hydrants in Woodley Park, at Connecticut Avenue and Calvert Street NW.

EARLIER:
» "EPA Concludes WASA Broke Lead Law" [WaPo]
» "Special Report: Drinking Water" [WaPo]
» "By the Numbers: D.C.'s Broken Fire Hydrants" [WaPo]
» "Across D.C., Mourning One Terrible Monday" [Free Ride/Express]

Photos by The Washington Post's Lois Raimondo and Kevin Clark