D.C. Fire & EMS has provided VNSTA with a partial response to its August 18 Freedom of Information Act request concerning the August 16 fire in the West Building at 3003 Van Ness.

The fire incident report confirms that firefighters discovered an actual fire in the building. It also shows that several Fire Marshal units responded and remained at 3003 Van Ness for several hours, and that the incident was referred to the Metropolitan Police Department.

The response is only partial. VNSTA has not yet received the Fire Marshal or investigative records, and the official cause of the fire remains unknown. It is also not yet known whether investigators concluded that arson or fireworks were involved, or whether FEMS identified any problems with the building's alarm, sprinkler, ventilation, or other life-safety systems.

The records provided so far also do not address concerns about elderly residents or residents with disabilities who were forced to evacuate and then had difficulty returning to their apartments.

VNSTA has followed up with the FEMS FOIA office and will report further when additional records are received.