Robert Molina (MSB ’05) didn’t expect to wake up to the acrid smell of smoke and fire early Wednesday morning.
But that’s what happened when the house next to him on the 3300 block of Prospect Street caught fire Wednesday morning.
“I woke up at around 8:30 a.m. to the smell of smoke coming through the kitchen. We didn’t think it was a huge deal at first but then we realized the entire basement of the house next to us was in flames,” he said. “It wasn’t until 8:45 when we managed to get out and we saw about eight firemen trying to knock in their front door.”
Multiple emergency responders arrived on scene and the fire was put out shortly after it started, limiting damage mainly to the basement of the house. A back fence was also destroyed and windows were broken as firefighters attempted to douse the flames.
Although neither Molina’s house nor the house where the fire started are university property, six Georgetown students live adjacent to the property and a young family lives at 3310 Prospect St., where the fire originated.
As neighbors streamed out of their houses their first thoughts were for the safety of the husband, wife and three young children who live in the house.
“My first instinct when I came outside and saw smoke was for the safety of the family,” Molina said. “I saw a lady who lives a few doors down from us crying but a few minutes later we saw some of them out on the street and we realized everyone was safe.”
The fire is still under investigation by the District of Columbia Fire Department. The fire warden on the scene declined to comment.
Jeff Miller, the owner of the house, said an electrical short in an energy meter in the basement caused the fire. He said one of his children and the family nanny were in the house at the time of the incident but escaped safely.
“It has all just taken place so fast but we’re going to fix the house up and get back in it just as soon as we can,” he said. “We’ll make it through this.”
Following the fire, university officials including David orrell, the vice president for university safety, arrived on the scene to comfort students and advise them of their rights and responsibilities in the matter.
He told the affected Georgetown students to contact the university if they needed any assistance.