Photos/Story by Alan Etter

Fire destroyed a two-story apartment building and damaged another in the Ivy City section of Washington this evening.

The call came before 6:00 p.m. for smoke coming from the vacant brick building in the 1800 block of Capitol Ave., NE. Firefighters aboard Engine 10 reported smoke visible in the block and heavy fire from the rear of the building. The fire was so intense, it spread across a 30 ft. alley, destroying trees and eventually spreading to an occupied building.

"Firefighters hit this one hard and just kept going," said Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe, the on-scene commander. "The aggressive interior attack muted a fire that had obviously been burning for a long time before we were even notified"

There were no injuries reported. Damage estimates are still being assessed, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

"We elevated this to a two-alarm event because of the volume of fire showing and the real possibility that people might have been inside," said Acting Battalion Chief James Dugan. "Our firefighters were able to knock this massive blaze down within a half-hour, and that made all the difference."