enough with the fires already

I woke up this morning to hear that DC’s historic Eastern Market suffered a devastating fire early this morning. The three-alarm blaze caused over $40 million in damage, displaced almost a dozen family-owned-and-operated food merchants, and upended one of the more unique neighborhoods in the District of Columbia. The mayor insists that the building will be restored, and that he’ll find a place for the merchants to conduct business during the interim. But I still worry that the fire may put many out of business.

Now I read about a fire at the Georgetown Public Library, which is currently undergoing renovation. I rode past said library this morning on my usual commute to work, and nothing was amiss. Since then, the fire has been deemed a two-alarm blaze, and firefighters are racing against raging winds to rescue historic documents and paintings from the building.

Two historic structures brought to their proverbial knees by fire in this small city within a 12-hour period is more than enough, thank you.