Massive Response to Electric Fire Wednesday Night: Report

Several streets were shut down Wednesday night in Alexandria after a massive response to an electrical fire at a high rise building in the 400 block of Madison Street, according to a report last night by The Washington Post.

Brian Hricik, the City’s Emergency Medical Services Operations manager, told the newspaper that a transformer caught fire around 6 p.m. near the building’s garage.

Most residents sheltered in place while about 50 firefighters and paramedics responded. No injuries were reported.

The City did not release any information about the fire.

Last year, the Alexandria Fire Department began transitioning from a single-role model to a dual-role model.

• In the old single-role model, ambulances were staffed with two Medics, and fire engines and trucks were staffed with three or four Firefighter-EMTs.
• In the new dual-role model, staffing is being shifted so that each fire engine will carry one Firefighter-Medic and three Firefighter-EMTs, and each ambulance will carry one Firefighter-Medic and one Firefighter-EMT. This is also called an “all-hazards” model, because the crew of any unit can begin handling any type of emergency.