The calm of a quiet Sunday afternoon in the nation's capital was shattered on October 24, 2004 as D.C. firefighters were called out to battle a raging row house blaze.
Units dispatched to the noontime call in the city's Adams-Morgan neighborhood found flames pouring through the roof of the large, three story corner building. Mounting an aggressive interior attack, firefighters were able to contain and extinguish the fire before it could spread through the attics to adjacent, attached dwellings.
Although all two occupants safely escaped the flames, a cat used up at least one of its nine lives when it leaped from a third floor balcony where it had sought refuge from the smoke and heat. The feline, apparently unharmed, was retrieved by a firefighter and returned to the arms of its anxious owner.
It took 49 fire personnel manning 5 engines, four trucks, and a heavy rescue, commanded by two battalions and the firefighting deputy, approximately twenty minutes to bring the incident under control.
