Fire in front of downtown DC hotels extinguished

Washington: A fire that forced the evacuation
of two hotels in downtown Washington near the White House has
been extinguished. No injuries were reported.

The fire started around 7:45 p.m. (2345 GMT) yesterday
and appeared to have been sparked by an underground electrical
transformer.

The flames shot into the air in front of the W and
Willard hotels on F Street about a block east of the White
House.

DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesman Pete
Piringer says the fire was put out around 9 pm (0100 GMT,
today) and power was restored to the area around 10 p.m. (0200
GMT) Neither hotel was damaged.

PTI