A gas leak triggered by a vehicle collision brought road closures and heavy emergency services presence to Northwest D.C. this evening. D.C. Fire and EMS, Washington Gas, and Metro PD were on the scene in Brightwood Park after several 911 calls were made reporting the gas smell.

The incident occurred when a vehicle struck the gas meter of a “mixed occupancy building” in the evening on December 12th, according to tweets from DC Fire and EMS.

Box Alarm with Hazmat 600 block Kennedy St NW. Vehicle struck gas meter of mixed occupancy building. Have gas readings inside several structures. Some evacuations. Protective hose line operating on leak. No fire. Shutting utilities adjacent buildings. on scene.

— DC Fire and EMS (@dcfireems)

Emergency services blocked off the area surrounding 7th to 5th Street and Kennedy Northwest and were on scene for approximately two hours. Washington Gas mandated that the surrounding structures also be evacuated due to significant gas readings in the area. There have been no reported injuries to residents or emergency services staff.

Fire and EMS, along with Washington Gas and Metro PD, were called to the scene after a vehicle struck a building’s gas meter, according to tweets. Emergency services evacuated three residents from a 600 block of Kennedy Street NW building and told several other residents to shelter in place.

The three evacuees from the initial incident location have since been able to return to their residences after emissions returned to “zero, normal limits,” according to Battalion Fire Chief Louis Carter.

“We’ve turned the incident over to Washington Gas,” said Carter, as fire engines, a Fire Department HAZMAT vehicle, and several police cruisers pulled away from the scene.

Washington Gas had since started jackhammering on the sidewalk near the entrance to the building where the damaged gas meter was initially hit. Carter confirmed that Washington Gas would likely not have to fully excavate in the street to contain the gas leak as they originally thought.

Carter said the gas company would be on the scene for several more hours excavating and doing critical repairs to the damaged gas meter overnight. He said they’ve “secured the leaks, and now they’re making a repair to the damaged meter.”

Washington Gas operates a for incidents like this and other gas leaks, and urges Washington residents to use their number or dial 911 if they suspect any kind of gas leak.

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“Somebody has been transported to hospital,” confirmed an MPD officer who was on the site of the accident in Northwest, D.C. However, the officer declined to give more information

On Twitter, @alanhenney reported that the person was in cardiac arrest, though 91���� could not confirm that. The identity of the person has not been released.

CRASH WITH PROBABLE FATALITY — Kennedy St at Illinois Ave NW DC. Man crashed auto into barrier. He is in cardiac arrest (possibly suffered a medical event). h/t

— Alan Henney (@alanhenney)

The accident occurred near the intersection of Kennedy Street and Illinois Avenue, NW in a narrow dark alley that connects some residential apartments to the main roads. The car smashed into a concrete jersey barrier that was blocking part of the alley off Kennedy Street.

The back of the car is severely damaged.��

Fatalities on the road have been dramatically increasing these two past years in D.C.��

In 2021, 40 fatalities were reported, the highest number since 2007. As of Dec. 6, 2022, the Metropolitan Police Department reported .��

In 2015, Mayor Muriel Bowser launched Vision Zero, an initiative designed to reduce the number of traffic injuries and fatalities in the city, with a goal of zero traffic fatalities by 2024. However, in October, the mayor released , noting that, while the initial goal was ambitious, the city was making some progress.

According to the report, in the three years before the pandemic, 2017-2019, the District recorded an average of 8,530 traffic crashes per year, or 23 per day, that resulted in injuries.��

“During the nearly three years of the COVID-19 public health emergency, overall reported traffic injuries in the District decreased sharply, by about 30% overall. Among pedestrians and cyclists, reported injuries decreased even more: by 44% (pedestrians) and 51% (cyclists),” the report said.

“However, fatalities did not follow suit, instead showing a divergence, where injuries declined and fatalities increased,” the report added.��

The post One person rushed to hospital after car crash in Brightwood Park first appeared on 91����.

In fiscal year 2021, D.C. Department of Public Works only removed 7% of reported abandoned vehicles, according to Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George at a D.C. Council public hearing today. D.C. residents and councilmembers said the current process of removing abandoned or dangerous vehicles is too inefficient and leads to quality of life issues in neighborhoods.

Council hosted the to review an introduced by Lewis George that would redefine the process for removing abandoned vehicles.

The amendment would reduce the number of criteria needed to classify an abandoned vehicle to one instead of two, and it expands the definition of a dangerous vehicle. Additionally, it would remove the option for imprisonment up to 90 days.

During the hearing, Lewis George said DPW only removed 426 of 5,802 total reported abandoned vehicles.

“This is a pretty shocking statistic that either means D.C. residents are really bad at identifying abandoned vehicles or DPW isn’t removing all the cars that fit the definition,” Lewis George said.

Christine Davis, executive director of DPW, said she has concerns about the amendment. Primarily she said the department does not have enough resources to meet the increased reports the amendment could open up. She said there is a limited number of employees to inspect abandoned vehicles and tow all vehicles for the city.

Davis also said the increased demand would put a strain on the already full impound lot. DPW runs one impound lot which receives abandoned and dangerous vehicles as well as booted cars, or vehicles with safety violations and those with no or expired tags.

In the single lot, Davis said there are 818 spaces with a daily capacity of about 750 spaces. On average she said 35 vehicles are towed to the lot daily, where they are held up to 30 days before they are scrapped or auctioned.

Johnny Gaither, Parking Enforcement Management administrator, said DPW will continue ticketing but stop towing vehicles if the impound lot goes over capacity.

In addition to resource constraints, Davis said she was concerned the amendment would allow vehicles with surface damage to be reported and considered abandoned.

“My concern is if we change the criteria to only one category then we are pulling many more vehicles that are in fact viable vehicles, and that are used to transport a family and to get people to and from work because they just don’t meet the aesthetics of a neighbor complaining about that vehicle,” Davis said.

In response to this concern, Lewis George said she disagrees and the amendment would only apply to inoperable and extensively damaged vehicles.

4B ANC commissioner Erin Palmer authored a separate which unanimously passed in February that made suggestions to clarify the vehicle removal process and update DPW’s abandoned vehicle website. She said she was motivated to write this resolution by the resident complaints about the presence and removal of abandoned vehicles in their neighborhood.

“It was something I heard not just from a single person but from a few different neighbors in different parts of the small single member district that I represent,” Palmer said. “So it seemed right off the bat that it was maybe more of a systemic issue.”

Currently, a resident can report an abandoned vehicle to 311 which launches an investigation by the Department of Public Works. Reported vehicles must meet two of four criteria to be considered abandoned. Some of the criteria include the vehicle is unregistered or is “inoperable.” Palmer said it’s difficult to meet two of those criteria, and if it doesn’t, DPW will automatically close out the report.

She said there’s also a lack of clarity on next steps in the reporting and removal process. While she introduced this legislation in her ANC, she said this is a city-wide issue with residents throughout the city wanting change.

During today’s hearing Palmer said she has not seen any website changes in response to the resolution she authored.

Ward 8 resident and native Washingtonian Ameen Beale said he remembers seeing burnt up, destroyed vehicles lining the street as a child and has seen this trend continue into adulthood.

“I feel like a big part of that is psychologically traumatizing because you know walking past that every day, like this is not how my neighborhood should look, it should be a warm, friendly place,” Beale said. “People shouldn’t have to see the remnants of other people’s carelessness or recklessness.”

Beale said he’s been active in reporting abandoned vehicles in his neighborhood. But he said the city often does not follow through with requests and said it can take days or months to resolve the issue.

“There’s no standard,” Beale said. “You realize there are a lot of gaps in that process and it just takes forever.”

Beale said it’s important to get cars involved in crimes off the street and to the police to identify or catch suspects. He said abandoned vehicles fall under the “broken windows theory” which suggests visible signs of crime like broken windows and vandalism can lead to more crime and disorder.

During the hearing, Lewis George said on top of harboring vermin and trash, these vehicles can be used to store guns and drugs. She said this can contribute to the level of gun violence seen in neighborhoods.

“This is not only a quality of life issue, this is a public safety issue,” Lewis George said.

Ward 4 resident Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan said she’s made several requests to remove abandoned vehicles from her block. Unlike many residential streets, her block doesn’t have ticketed residential parking zones. She said this means it’s become a “dropping ground” for abandoned vehicles.

Bogdan said some vehicles are completely undrivable, with one missing its front wheels. Others she said are in decent condition but have been unmoved for over a year.

“It’s about public health, it’s about being able to use parking in public streets as they were intended and for everybody to be able to use them,” Bogdan said.

Bogdan said an RV has been illegally parked on her street for two years. After initially reporting the vehicle as abandoned, she said she was told it didn’t meet all the criteria to be towed. Later another neighbor pointed out that it is illegal for RV’s to be parked in a residential area, which resulted in two tickets left on the vehicle.

After several calls about the RV, Bogdan said a representative inspected the vehicle but later cleared the request and said the vehicle wasn’t there.

Beale said he hopes there will be a more efficient process for removing abandoned vehicles from the street and change the tone of neighborhoods where abandoned vehicles are predominantly left, on top of added education about the removal process.

“I get a sense that a lot of people just think things kind of disappear on their own,” Beale said.

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When D.C. Public Schools resumed in-person classes on Aug. 30, 70% of HVAC-related work orders throughout the system had yet to be completed. The outstanding fixes left many school buildings without proper air filtration, which the CDC has to be an important factor in resuming indoor activities like classes given COVID-19’s airborne nature.

The data comes from D.C. Department of General Services and was announced at a Sept. 28 D.C. Council on school facility conditions.

On the first day of fall classes, only 30% of HVAC work orders were completed. Another 26% of work orders were completed by Sept. 22, leaving 44% incomplete. HVAC units heat and cool buildings and provide air ventilation by circulating indoor and outdoor air.

Work orders are not the only problem, with concerns like leaky roofs and a lack of access to outdoor spaces also left unaddressed. But Ward 4 parents and community members said this is nothing new, pointing to long-standing inequitable facility issues.

Keith Anderson, director of the D.C. Department of General Services, gave attendees an update on a that included adding a layer of air filtration to pre-existing HVAC units or spot air coolers to control the heat. Additionally, DGS installed air quality monitors in all schools.

Frazier O’Leary, Ward 4 State Board of Education representative, said he’s been advocating for an overhaul of HVAC repairs since he ran for his position in the fall of 2018. He said there’s an increased sense of urgency in the community with the spread of the virus and a lack of action on the school’s part.

With the cold weather approaching, O’Leary said schools are now facing an “emergency.”

At-large Councilmember Robert White said he toured Whittier Education Campus in Brightwood two weeks into the school year, where on top of HVAC system issues he found roof and window leaks, plaster falling off ceilings, sewage leaks, flooding in various rooms, water damage and overall poor air conditions.

“Teachers entering into a classroom the week before school starts or families entering on the first day should not be surprised that the classroom is 84 degrees. That is something that is known or knowable long before school starts,” White said. “Something systematic, something systemic broke down.”

Ward 4 parent Alicia Bolton has two daughters in Whittier and said she’s always noticed “chronic water leaks” in the 100-year-old building.

In February 2021, Bolton said all parents were called to pick up their kids because of a pipe burst at Whittier. While the school fixed the pipe, she said any repairs seemed like a “Band-Aid solution” to a larger and alarming problem.

“That is quite honestly one of the worst feelings as a parent to know that the place where you send your child to get an education is not the safe place that you need it to be,” Bolton said. “No parent wants this kind of disruption for their child.”

With the addition of the pandemic, Bolton said the first thing on her mind is air quality.

“I think that when HVAC systems aren’t what they need to be, and the roof isn’t working the way that it needs to be, it’s not a recipe for success,” Bolton said.

O’Leary said Whittier is expected to be renovated in 2028, leaving students and teachers to deal with these large-scale issues for another seven years.

After working in schools for 47 years, and highlighting these problems in his current position for years, O’Leary said the lack of change can be attributed to neglect from the mayor and mayoral appointees.

“It’s not money. It’s desire,” O’Leary said. “I mean we just got a whole boatload of money for the city, but it’s not that it’s inefficiency.”

Some families are so concerned about the state of DCPS reopening that they’ve opted to One of these parents, Becky Reina, said it’s a decision with possible major repercussions.

Families that decide not to send their kids to school in person, and do not qualify for a medical waiver to have virtual classes, can be disenrolled from DCPS and referred to Child and Family Services.

While this hasn’t happened to Reina’s family yet, she said she knows of several people whose kids were disenrolled from the schools they’ve attended for years.

During the hearing, Anderson said HVAC repairs are regularly needed. Per industry standards, he said HVAC parts are under a 5-10 year warranty, but the labor warranty only lasts one year.

Anderson attributed the current lag in HVAC repairs to global supply chain backups due to the pandemic.

Evan Yeats, a 4B ANC commissioner and DCPS parent, said he doesn’t buy this excuse because promises to fix HVAC systems and modernize equipment were made over a year ago.

He said in the neighborhood he represents, crews were in schools trying to fix HVAC’s up until midnight before schools opened. He said this shows how “poorly planned” the repairs were.

Yeats said DGS needs to be diligent in making sure all buildings are safe. If this isn’t happening, he said D.C. Council should engage in oversight, rather than waiting for hearings or walking through schools and seeing a roof leak first hand to call attention to the issue.

However, Yeats said there is not a group focused on making sure schools are ready for students after D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson the education committee this year in January.

“I think I’m reachable, like I’m movable, my kids are in school right now, and if I thought they took these issues seriously it would make me feel much better and I would be much more supportive,” Yeats said.

“But right now, you know, we’re sitting on a pile of broken promises.”

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