74-Year-Old Man Found Alive 5 Days After Massive Fire At DC Senior Apartment Complex
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WJZ) -- During a search of a senior apartment building days after a massive fire broke out in DC, a 74-year-old man was found alive inside the building.
The man had a "sense of humor" about the incident and told his rescuers, he "wasn't going any place."
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said the man, who they believe was a resident on the second floor, stayed inside the building when the fire broke out. He has non-life threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital for treatment, she said.
Cleanup Underway After Fire Rips Through D.C. Apartment Complex
Bowser said that no DC Fire officials will recheck the building and unit to search for survivors.
Officials said the apartment management hired a contractor to help with cleanup after the fire. That was when the man was found.
Bowser said she believes the man was a resident of the complex and not a visitor.
The apartment's management company initially told the fire officials that everyone in the building was accounted for before first responders stopped the preliminary search.
After the elderly man was found in the building, the apartment's management company said they hadn't "laid eyes" on the man.
Now the search was handed back over to DC Fire & EMS, who will research the building with K9s.
The fire broke out Wednesday night in the Arthur Capper Senior Apartment.
Steady streams of water were still gushing from firefighters' hoses Wednesday night.
The heavy response was followed by hours of work for teams of firefighters doing battle with this raging inferno at this senior citizen apartment complex.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The focus is now making sure displayed aren't forgotten.
Arthur Capper Senior Apartment is a new senior community in Capitol Hill that was completed in 2007. 900 block of 5th Street. The five-story building houses senior citizens and has 162 apartments.
More than 80 residents were displaced by the fire.
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