Photo by Matt.Dunn.

If there was one trend which showed no signs of slowing throughout the entirety of 2010, it was the never-ending stream of breaking alerts which, to the untrained eye, would indicate that this whole damn city was downright falling apart.

Suspicious packages which turned out to be bags of clothes, hazardous material investigations which ended up finding nothing, water main breaks, road rage incidents, fires caused by preventable causes: all very big in 2010. Why should the last day of the year break with tradition? In the last couple of hours alone, D.C. Fire and EMS sent a hazmat team to investigate some “stinky” cleaner fumes in a drain on the 1700 block of H Street NW, repairs to a water main on the 1100 block of 45th Place SE were affecting 50 homes, D Street NW between 2nd and 3rd Streets was closed temporarily, and on and on.

Our New Year’s wish? That the temporary inconveniences we hear about on a daily basis wane ever so slightly. That way, D.C.’s emergency personnel can focus on the really pressing stuff — you know, like when a three-story homeless shelter catches on fire.