Some scaffolding collapsed under a pair of window washers this morning, causing the D.C. fire department to launch a daring high-angle rescue. It happened about 7:30 a.m. at an 11-story building at 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW.
Some scaffolding collapsed under a pair of window washers this morning, causing the D.C. fire department to launch a daring high-angle rescue. It happened about 7:30 a.m. at an 11-story building at 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW.
From the files of our worst nightmares: ten people, six adults and four children, got trapped inside the elevator at the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro station this afternoon, according to D.C. Fire/EMS. The call came in around 2:45 p.m., and units from the high angle rescue team are now on the scene and working to get them out - the elevator is reportedly stuck halfway down the elevator shaft. We'd like to buy all of these folks an ice cream cone once they get out of there.
While we were resting our hangovers yesterday, we missed word via the Examiner that River Road was at last reopened, a full eight days after a massive water main break caused flooding, substantial damage and led to the rescue of 15 people by boat and helicopter. The delay in reopening the road occurred after engineers discovered three cracked pipes that needed to be replaced in addition to the one that caused the flooding. The road is now open to vehicles, but crews are still working in the area and traffic will continue to be delayed for some time while final repairs are made.
Montgomery County Schools have announced that they are closing 2 and 1/2 hours early today due to the very large Bethesda water main break that damaged River Rd. and forced the rescue of 15 people from about a dozen stranded vehicles. The Post reports that school officials closed the campuses because the main break "has caused widespread water outages in schools across the lower part of the county," affecting the availability of water and heat in numerous schools. Students are being bussed home.
Leave it to the D.C. metro area to turn something as normally humdrum as a winter water main break into a dramatic rescue operation. Tune in to News Channel 8/WJLA for the best views of the large water main break near River Road that's forced Montgomery County authorities to send in helicopters and, yes we're not kidding, boats to rescue stranded motorists caught in roughly 4 feet of rushing water due to the broken main. At least twelve people have reportedly already been rescued.