In what may be a very symbolic, if not necessarily humorous flame out, D.C. Fire and EMS are working to put out a blaze Wednesday afternoon in the Watergate complex. The fire is on the 13th floor at a building in the 700 block of New Hampshire Avenue NW, officials said. Several floors have smoky conditions, officials said quoted by NBC.
The blaze supposedly broke out as Washington focused on another political scandal as Donald Trump was blasted BuzzFeed and CNN over a “fake news” report. It's not clear whether the building has been evacuated.
A Twitter user named Jocelyn (@jocemiller) posted about the fire about 1:30 p.m. "All of a sudden we look out the window and see a condo has caught fire in Watergate 700," she posted. "DC FD is on the scene now."
All of a sudden we look out the window and see a condo has caught fire in Watergate 700. DC FD is on the scene now. pic.twitter.com/xthCj7AXru
— Jocelyn (@jocemiller) January 11, 2017
No injuries are reported, fire officials said.
Fire on balcony at residential Watergate building. Fire Dept is on scene pic.twitter.com/ESrhWMLWDg
— Lee Mayer (@Lmayer2) January 11, 2017
Located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of the US capital, Watergate is made up of five distinct-looking buildings overlooking the Potomac River and Rock Creek.
At this moment, there appears to be no connection between events that took place in 1972 at the Watergate Hotel, the subsequent abbreviated tenure of Richard Nixon, and the flaming dumpster fire that erupted between the president-elect and members of the press.