Nearly 30 men who lived in the charitable home were displaced. News4’s Cory Smith spoke with firefighters who rescued some of them from the building.
A fire broke out Tuesday afternoon at a charitable home in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C., trapping some residents, fire officials said.
Flames and smoke consumed the top floor and attic of the McKenna House on Park Road NW. The three-story building owned by Catholic Charities provides housing to men who are transitioning from homelessness to independent living.
Firefighters rescued a man who was stuck on the third floor and had considered jumping out a window before they reached him.
"I looked up, I saw him. I got my crew together. They did a great job. They threw the ladder," D.C. Fire and EMS Cpt. Mike Basinger said.
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Rescue workers found another resident in a third-floor hallway and medics took him to a hospital. He's expected to survive, officials said.
Twenty-seven men who were forced out of the building tried to keep warm in Red Cross blankets as they watched firefighters extinguish the blaze.
Catholic Charities and the Red Cross are providing the displaced residents of the home with shelter and other essentials.
Twenty units and close to 100 firefighters were called to the scene.
Stay with News4 for more on this developing story.
