CNN Headline – 2/7/11
Washington D.C. – This is no smoke screen: something is definitely going up in flames at the National Mall in the Woodley Park area in Washington D.C. Several mall-goers confirmed seeing flames somewhere in the northwest corner of the mall, over by the Macy's, early Monday morning. As of right now it is unclear what exactly is on fire, but we now know for sure that something absolutely is in the process of burning to the ground.
The fire may have started around the time that last night’s Super bowl ended, but we can’t know for sure because no one was looking. First to arrive near the scene was mall security guard Eric Hudson, who recalls seeing something bright emanating from the corner of the mall that houses GameStop, and one of the mall’s four Starbucks. “I saw something glowing over there,” said Hudson, pointing in the general direction of the blaze. “But fire isn’t really my job, so I just left it alone. I told Gary about it, and as far as I see it that fulfils my responsibility.”
Mall-goers and employees alike share in Hudson’s opinion on what they should do about the fire. Corner Bakery employee, Melissa Hardquist, confirms that there is indeed a fire in the mall, but doesn’t see how it should affect her. “My day is super busy as it is,” she said. “I don’t need some stupid fire coming along and ruining things for me.” The Corner Bakery is at the edge of the north food court and only a couple stores down from the section of the mall currently engulfed in flames, so Hardquist saw the fire but, like all the other mall employees, was helpless to do anything about it. “I saw some flames coming out of what might have been Radio Shack, but I was running late to work and had no time to go check it out. Besides, I’m no fireman. I don’t know the first thing about putting out fires, that’s not what I get paid to do.”
The fire, though certainly an inconvenience, didn’t stop shoppers from accomplishing what they came to the mall to do. Sharper Image customer, Dan Parsons, acknowledged the fire upon his arrival, but didn’t let it deter him from buying the Mangroomer Electric Back Hair Shaver he came to the mall for in the first place. “Fires are great and everything. I mean, who doesn’t love a good fire?” said Parsons as he made his way across the Butterfly Parking Lot to his car. “But there’s a time and a place for fires, usually a fireplace or campsite, not at the mall. When I go to the mall, I just get in, get what I came for, and get outta there. I hate dealing with all the people and lines there, so I try to make it as quick as possible. I can’t take time to deal with every burning building I see, especially not at the mall where you can get sidetracked so easily. I’m sure mall security will call someone to take care of it. Not my problem.”
Several other shoppers echoed Parsons’ sentiment. It’s common knowledge that people go to the mall to shop, eat, watch a movie, or maybe even ice skate depending on which mall you go to, but hardly anyone goes to put out a fire. So it makes perfect sense that most people at the mall tried to ignore the fire making its way towards Abercrombie and Fitch. However, there are certain people who do come to the mall to put out a fire: firemen. When Hudson’s boss, Gary Tyler, found out about the fire, he alerted the mall’s Director of Custodial Services, believing the fire to be more of a custodial issue than a security issue. The Director of Custodial Services then informed the mall’s Operations Manager that something was on fire in the northwest corner; and the Operations Manager called the D.C. fire department. “We’d be happy to go out to the mall and put out that fire, that’s what we get paid to do,” said D.C. Fire Commissioner, William Bedford. “However, the National Mall in Woodley Park is outside city limits and therefore outside of our jurisdiction as the city of Washington D.C.’s Fire Department. It’s a Woodley Park fire and must be put out by Woodley Park firemen.”
As of press-time no firemen had arrived on the scene yet, as the Woodley Park Fire Department argued that under section 42.b of the City Code, once a fire reaches a certain size the DCFD is required to come out and assist with extinguishing the fire. The two departments have agreed to wait until the fire reached the required size before they would begin to put it out.
It is unlikely we will ever know what was originally on fire, as the flames have spread considerably since we first started reporting that something was on fire over at the National Mall, and it will be almost impossible to determine where the fire originated now that the whole north side of the mall is in flames. Regardless of what started the fire, it is now safe to say that, generally speaking, the National Mall is on fire. Hopefully they put it out soon, but, personally, I'm not too concerned about it. My assignment was to write 1000 words on what was on fire, and even though I’ve only got a hair over 900 words, I consider that close enough and my assignment completed.
-Pete Higgins
No comments:
Post a Comment