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Now that Peggy Cooper Cafritz‘s home is scorched and her priceless African American and African art collection is burnt to a crisp, neighbors are wondering if their homes could also fall victim to powerful fires.
The Fire Department cited the lack of water pressure as a main obstacle to putting out the blaze.
WTOP reports that neighbors say there are constant water concerns in the area.
The water goes off along Chain Bridge Road in Palisades occasionally. One resident described the flow from his kitchen faucet as “a drizzle as opposed to a full force of water coming out.”
That’s kind of a pain when you’re trying to fill up a pot. More worrisome when your home is burning down—-and it houses irreplaceable art.* (The home was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine recently.)
Having witnessed the fire, one local three-year-old apparently told his parents that “he didn’t want our house to melt.”
At the scene of the fire, “the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority worked with firefighters to find 16- and 30-inch water mains to bring water several blocks to the scene. The closest water main was an 8-inch main,” according to WTOP.
*According to the Washington Post, “Cafritz said the collection had been appraised but she declined to give its value. The majority of the collection was in the house, though one piece, which she couldn’t recall, is on loan to a gallery in New York. But she is determined to collect again.”