(Washington, DC)  In a scene all too familiar to Georgetown residents and DC Fire & EMS crews, an explosion and subsequent fire inside a manhole sent pedestrians scurrying and ground rush hour traffic along M Street, NW to a halt.

The event drew a serious response from DC Fire & EMS units at 4:32 pm, just as rush hour was building along the historic Georgetown route to the Key Bridge. Witnesses reported hearing what sounded like cannon fire and then seeing thick black smoke rising from three manholes. Engine 1 arrived to fire showing from one of the manholes, located outside 3206 M Street. Squad 1 arrived and began taking gas readings inside the buildings on the South side of M Street. Finding moderate levels of natural gas inside the buildings, Battalion Fire Chief Mike Willis ordered four of the buildings East of Georgetown Park evacuated.

There was a heavy odor of gas outside the buildings, which indicated there was a serious leak that was pumping a high concentration of gas into the atmosphere. Washington Gas and Pepco arrived to begin their work in resolving the situation.

Simultaneous to the M Street. event, HazMat detected a presence of gasoline in a manhole one block South on Wisconsin Ave. A local alarm was dispatched to that event with Battalion Four to investigate. After a thorough evaluation, Battalion Fire Chief J.J. Burger determined that the gasoline probably came from a ruptured tank from a car or snow blower and posed no serious threat.

There were no injuries reported in either of the events.

Battalion Fire Chief Mike Willis (r) confers with HazMat officer Lt. J.M. Bashore.