WASHINGTON -- Last Wednesday, WUSA9’s crews were on the scene of a massive warehouse fire. Some five days later, embers were still burning inside.
“For a long time, the issue was that the building was unstable in danger of collapse,” said DC Fire Spokesperson, Vito Maggiolo.
oN Monday evening, Maggiolo told WUSA9, Firefighters were finally allowed to safely enter and extinguish those smoldering embers. He expected the fire to be completely out by Monday night.
The site involved is a warehouse on the 6400 block of Chillum Place NW. A sign on the warehouse wall said it houses building materials. The backside, which faces Blair Rd. NW, is where a parking garage wall collapsed.
Now that the fire is officially out, there questions around air quality.
After some five days of burning, is this air safe to breathe?
“You know what’s smoldering is basic combustibles. There’s no hazardous materials or anything that we could tell would create Hazardous smoke,” said Maggiolo.
The fire department monitors air quality for firefighters working the scene.
WUSA9 also checked in with the DC Department of Energy and Environment. Their Emergency Operations Chief, John T. Emminizer, said the DOEE inspected the site twice. WUSA9 was told they look at both run-off water and air quality.
When it comes to air quality, Emminizer said they check for: oxygen changes, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and hydrogen cyanide.
DOEE inspectors plan to check a third time. They’ll be on Chillum Pl. NW at around 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
Firefighters are still investigating the cause.
One first responder injured last Wednesday is expected to recover.
