D.C. to Give Rent Subsidies to Tenants of Burned Building

Displaced residents of a fire-damaged apartment building will be eligible for rent subsidies from the District.

About 200 mostly low-income people were left homeless by the fire last week in the 3100 block of Mount Pleasant Street.

Mayor Adrian Fenty said city officials were told that nearly the entire building will have to be gutted and renovated. He said city officials will work with the owner and the contractor to reduce the reconstruction time.

Fenty announced the city would provide the tenants with $275,000 in rent subsidies for up to two years.

The fire was the first five-alarm blaze in the city in nearly three decades. The cause of the blaze has not been determined.

Source: The Washington Post.