ALEXANDRIA, Va. --
Powerful thunderstorms rolled across the D.C. area late Saturday, leading to an Alexandria high-rise fire that sent nine people to the hospital.
Fire investigators said lightning sparked the three-alarm blaze at the Alexandria Knolls apartments on Edsall Road.
Officials said six firefighters were injured fighting the blaze, suffering from smoke inhalation and exhaustion. Three residents also had to be hospitalized. All were expected to be fine, fire officials said.
Residents said they woke up to the ringing of fire alarms and tried to escape through the smoke-filled halls of the 18-story building.
"It was very scary," resident Donna Charles said. "There was smoke through my entire hallway."
She said went to her balcony and screamed for help. A neighbor came to her aid and guided her out of the building.
The lightning strike destroyed parts of the building's electrical system. Power was restored early Sunday, but the air conditioning and elevators were not working.
The severe storms following Saturday's excessive heat downed trees and power lines across the region, and cut short the preseason game between the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Ravens.
Lightning delayed the start of the game at FedEx Field in Landover, then another storm halted the game for good in the third quarter. The Skins won, 13-7.
The roof of a restaurant was struck by lightning, fire officials said, sparking a blaze that was quickly extinguished.
Pepco reported about 15,000 outages in the region shortly after midnight, with about 8,000 of those customers in Prince George's County.
But the storms did bring some relief -- cooler temperatures. Hot, polluted air prompted a Code Orange alert. Temperatures on Sunday were expected to be in the low 90s.
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