) - Firefighters responding to a 2-alarm house fire in DC were able to escape injury when a building next door collapsed.
Pete Piringer, spokesman for DC Fire and EMS, says units were dispatched to a row house fire in the 800 block of 10th Street Northeast just before 10:00 p.m. Sunday night. Firefighters arriving on scene found flames coming from a 3-story middle-of-row house. Firefighters immediately called for a second alarm.
While fire crews battled the blaze, fire extended to the house next door and the structure collapsed.
Piringer says both homes were unoccupied at the time of the fire.
Crews were able to quickly bring the fire under control, but not before the flames caused approximately $600,000 in damage.
No one was injured in the blaze, however, two adults and two children were displaced the day after Christmas.
Investigators believe the fire was accidental, possibly caused by plumbers soldering pipes together.