(Courtesy of D.C. Fire Fighters L36)

(Courtesy of D.C. Fire Fighters L36)

An elderly man was pulled from the badly-damaged Arthur Capper Senior Center in Southeast on Monday morning, five days after a roaring fire forced more than 100 seniors to evacuate the building and promtped several rescues.

The 74-year-old man was found by a crew hired by the property owner to evaluate the safety of the structure, Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference on Monday. The news was first reported by Mark Segraves on Twitter Monday morning.

The fire, which broke out Wednesday afternoon, caused severe damage to the structure of the public housing complex for seniors. Several parts of the roof and attic level collapsed.

D.C. Fire and EMS had previously announced that all residents of the complex were accounted for. At a press conference on Monday, Bowser said that the complex’s management company, Edgewood Management, completed the initial count. Bowser said that the company initially reported the man’s safety, but acknowledged after the man had been found that they hadn’t actually laid eyes on him since the fire.

Bowser said that it’s an open question why the management company reported he was safe after the fire.

Officials believe the man had been trapped in his second-floor apartment since the fire on Wednesday, Bowser said. He has been transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He was found in his apartment, helped into a chair, and then wheeled out of the apartment on a wheelchair.

Bowser said that Edgewood is re-checking with several other residents to make sure they are accounted for. Also, D.C. Fire will enter the building on Monday afternoon, and K9s will also be on sight to sweep the area for anyone else that may be left inside.

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen said in a statement on Twitter Monday morning that “clearly there have been multiple failures to this point in either identifying and locating every resident or securing the building.”

The man was likely unable to escape from his unit in the days since the fire because heat had swollen the door and made it nearly impossible to open, officials said. The man had water bottles on a table in his apartment, but it’s unclear whether he was able to get to them or drink from them.

Acting Fire Chief Milton Douglas said at the press conference on Monday that firefighters completed a primary search of the building while the fire was still happening on Wednesday, but could not complete a secondary search because the building started collapsing. It’s possible that firefighters missed the man’s apartment in their primary search, Douglas said, though he can’t say for sure.

Of the 162 units in the building, 161 were occupied, officials said at a press conference Wednesday night. Over the weekend, D.C. Fire and EMS worked to stabilize the outside of the building to allow crews to safely enter and sweep for any residents left inside.

The fire has left 161 D.C. households without a place to live. More than 80 were staying at the King Greenleaf Recreation Center last week. Many are staying at motels as a stop-gap measure, Mayor Bowser said at a press conference on Friday.

The Capitol Hill Community Foundation is collecting donations for the seniors to help them find housing.

Filed Under: arthur capper senior center, d.c. fire, d.c. fire and ems,