Sunday, October 22, 2017

Promenade fire displaces over 1000 residents, sends 17 people to hospital

Living in the flagship of developer Nathan Landow's Bethesda residential buildings, The Promenade, is usually like being aboard a luxury cruise ship. On Saturday morning, it was more like The Poseidon Adventure, as Montgomery County firefighters fought a stubborn fire in close quarters in the building's electrical room, and residents struggled down smoke-filled stairwells. One firefighter and six residents were injured - mostly due to smoke inhalation - and eleven other residents were treated for complications from their pre-existing medical conditions. The firefighter was suffering from heat exhaustion, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson Pete Piringer said.

More than 500 units at the luxury coop at 5225 Pooks Hill Road were evacuated, after smoke from the electrical fire below rose into the upper floors of the building. Many more in Pooks Hill lost power during the several hours it took to extinguish the blaze, which was started by a transformer. It should be noted that smoke from electrical fires can be particularly hazardous to health, depending on the material used to shield the wiring.

The North Tower of the complex was left without power, meaning that residents in those units will be displaced possibly more than 24 hours, as repairs are made to restore electricity. Red Cross officials, mass casualty units, and the Montgomery County Department of Emergency Management were on-scene to assist residents in securing temporary housing. Because the issue is mainly the lack of power, those residents were allowed to retrieve any belongings they needed from their units last night.

Damage is estimated by MCFRS at around $1 million.

Bottom photo: MCFRS

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Living in the flagship of developer Nathan Landow's Bethesda residential buildings, The Promenade, is usually like being aboard a luxury cruise ship."

WTF is this???

Anonymous said...

I was going to write exactly that response. I’m guessing a relationship with Landow?

Anonymous said...

Let’s be fair. The competitor didn’t write about it, and aside from the introduction this was a really good news report.

Anonymous said...

The introduction is laughable but otherwise a solid piece of news reporting. Good job, Robert!

Anonymous said...

Let's be fair. The "competitor" doesn't post on the weekends.

Anonymous said...

The building looks like it's drunk and about to fall down, in the first picture.

Who took the second photo, Robert? Attribution is always nice.

Anonymous said...

GO HOME BUILDING

YOUR DRUNK

Anonymous said...

5:54 AM & 8:54 AM Hop off and take a rest for a bit.
You're trying way too hard.

Anonymous said...

I loved Nathan Landow in Mission Impossible.

Anonymous said...

"Living in the flagship of developer Nathan Landow's Bethesda residential buildings, The Promenade, is usually like being aboard a luxury cruise ship. On Saturday morning, it was more like The Poseidon Adventure..."

More like the Carnival Triumph.

"On February 10, 2013, the ship suffered a fire in the aft engine room. Although the fire was automatically extinguished and there were no injuries to passengers or crew, it resulted in a loss of power and propulsion. To make matters worse, raw sewage began to back up into passenger deck areas, creating a major health hazard. This caused the media to dub the event 'The Poop Cruise'."

Robert Dyer said...

5:56: It's called engaging writing from a lifelong resident who knows Bethesda. If you prefer a low-info report from a carpetbagger, you have other options.

7:56: Never received a dime from Landow.

9:30: The second photo is clearly credited to MCFRS at bottom. Combined with your comment on the building photo, I have to assume that you are the one who is drunk.

Anonymous said...

I think it is very childish that many people who comment on this blog do so to pretend there is some sort of competition going on between this blog and a local digital magazine. I really don't think that people get their news from just one source and I don't see the problem if one or the other posts a story first or second. What are we, elementary school children? Grow up rude commenters.

Anonymous said...

Not surprised the low quality maintenance performed on Landow buildings resulted in this fire. I am making an assumption based on their extremely unsafe/unprotected facade work at the office building on Woodmont triangle. The only overhead protection provided is small segment at the entrance to their doors while all other pedestrians are subject to a potentially fatal accident.

Anonymous said...

Hi 3:47, if you follow the comments from a few months back, it actually stems from Robert’s own insistence that BM is a competitor, has unpaid interns posting comments here, etc. Dyer’s the one that made it an issue and commenters just use it as a trolling point.

Anonymous said...

Of course he did. We are talking about delete-happy Dyer. Always willing to delete the truth but leave the insults against the poster stay as a warning to others.

Anonymous said...

Still laughihng at Dyer's uncredited photo copied from Google Street View which he was too lazy to align properly. The perspective is badly distorted and it really looks like both the building and the driveway are about to fall off the side of a mountain.