Fire Breaks Out in Dupont Circle
(Updated at 11:36 a.m.) A fire erupted in a building under construction in Dupont Circle this morning, causing black, smoke and ash to billow from its roof.
The blaze started on the 1700 block of M Street NW about 10:45 a.m., D.C. Fire and EMS Department spokesman Doug Buchanan told Borderstan.
No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire also wasn’t immediately clear.
Working fire: 1700blk of M St NW – Units on scene, PIO enroute. 9 story bldg. under construction, no inj reported at this time.
— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems) November 8, 2016
Building at 17th and M is under construction and on fire apparently? Seems bad! @borderstan pic.twitter.com/b89kLFXv7p
— Travis Hughes (@TravisSBN) November 8, 2016
By 11:10 a.m., smoke no longer was pouring from the building’s rooftop.
Ronald Colbert said he saw the smoke from several blocks away and then rushed over to get a better look.
“It was brown smoke, Colbert recalled. “Then, it turned white.”
Employees at Caruso Florist, the flower shop across the street, said the foul-smelling smoke began pouring out of the building without much warning. The shop’s employees, along with a few hundred more people, lined the sidewalk across from the building for a better look.
The area may be closed for an additional hour or so as fire crews wrap up, according to authorities.
