DC has (or had) a barn? I was out by Merrifield at the time, too far away for me to have seen the smoke.
Home » Washington, DC News » Firefighters battle blaze in
Firefighters battle blaze in vacant DC barn; smoke visible for miles
Hugh Garbrick | Hugh.Garbrick@wtop.com
Alejandro Alvarez | aalvarez@wtоp.com
December 3, 2022, 6:19 PM
![](https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/SE-DC-FIRE-1-1.jpg)
A large fire in a vacant Southeast D.C. barn sent plumes of smoke high into the air across the nations capital on Saturday afternoon.
D.C. Fire and EMS units were called to a vacant two-story structure on the campus of St. Elizabeths, a psychiatric hospital in Southeast, around 3:45 p.m. Saturday. Crews arrived to find much of the barn engulfed in flames. A towering column of smoke was visible from across the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, before firefighters brought the fire under control.
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The destroyed barn resembles a cow barn seen in photos from the archives of the Library of Congress. The cow barn dates back to the 19th century, according to its archives. The archives note the barns address is 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., where D.C. Fire and EMS reported Saturday nights fire.
According to the Library of Congress, the cow barn was part of an agricultural-building complex that was built to accommodate the hospitals 100 dairy cattle herd, necessary for the hospitals dairy operations.
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A photo from the Library of Congress archives dating to the 19th century. The photo is of St. Elizabeths Hospitals cow barn, an integral part of the hospitals dairy operations.
As many as 100 firefighters responded to the fire. Anticipating a collapse, the fire department worked from the outside for several hours to quell the blaze and remained on the scene past nightfall, knocking down hot spots.
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![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FjFOyMiWIAI-R91.jpg)
Hugh Garbrick
Hugh graduated from the University of Marylands journalism college in 2020. While studying, he interned at the Queen Anne & Magnolia News, a local paper in Seattle, and reported for the schools Capital News Service. Hugh is a lifelong MoCo resident, and has listened to the local radio quite a bit.
Hugh.Garbrick@wtop.com
Alejandro Alvarez
Alejandro Alvarez joined WTOP as a digital journalist and editor in June 2018. He is a reporter and photographer focusing on politics, political activism and international affairs.
aalvarez@wtоp.com
@aletweetsnews
Wow.