A fire broke out in a Northwest D.C. building that houses the headquarters of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) on Wednesday morning.
The fire was extinguished in a relatively short time and the building was immediately evacuated. No injuries were reported, according to the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (EMS).
The cause of the fire is still being investigated by the D.C. Fire and EMS, which arrived at the scene after receiving an automatic fire alarm from the building at around 6:00 a.m.
There was a considerable volume of fire when #DCsBravest arrived at Metro Headquarters. Despite these conditions in an 8 story square block building, fire was extinguished in a relatively short time. pic.twitter.com/Fda5ltocBG
— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) May 27, 2020
Firefighters were seen around the downtown area, including in front of Capital One Arena.
“We do have a team of fire investigators here and and once conditions are safe, they’ll go on up to the eighth floor and begin their work,” said Vito Maggiolo, spokesman for D.C. Fire and EMS, told WTOP.
Metro was planning to move out of its current headquarters by 2022.
Update 2 Alarm Fire 600 5th St NW. Fire is knocked down. Continue to ventilate smoke and search for any occupants. No injuries reported. pic.twitter.com/8qd1S3houa
— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) May 27, 2020
Metro released a statement regarding the fire later in the day.
“We are grateful all employees and occupants were safely evacuated during this morning’s fire at Metro’s headquarters, the Jackson Graham Building in Downtown, D.C. Thanks to the quick response from D.C. Firefighters, the fire was quickly contained, and there were no reported injuries to Metro employees or first responders. We are currently assessing the damage and working closely with DCFEMS to identify the cause of the fire,” the statement said.
Metro added that a new D.C. headquarters was currently under construction and that the Jackson Graham Building did not meet modern fire & life safety standards for new buildings as it hadn’t seen a major renovation since it was built. “Fire and life safety factors” are the primary reason Metro decided to move.