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A DC Fire & EMS Department ladder truck with five firefighters on board was hit by gunfire this (Thursday) afternoon. No firefighters were injured. The radio traffic from OpenMHz.com (above) shows the officer from Truck 13 had some difficulty getting acknowledgement of the serious situtation. It took three radio transmissions over a period of two minutes and 30 seconds before a dispatcher at the Office of Unified Communications acknowledged that shots had been fired. A fire officer at the Fire Operations Center, a seperate facility run by DC Fire & EMS, apparently heard the transmissions clearly and attempted to assist Truck 13.

The shots were fired near Mt. Olivet Road and Montello Avenue NE in the Trinidad neighborhood. When the firefighters returned to their firehouse in the same neighborhood and discovered two bullet holes in the ladder truck.

From a DC Fire & EMS Department spokesperson:

At approximately 12:20 PM, Truck Co. 13 was traveling routinely (not on a call), and were in the area of Mount Olivet Road and Montello Avenue NE when there was gunfire in the area. 

Truck 13 immediately left the area and notified the Office of Unified Communications by radio of the incident.

The unit returned to their firehouse and upon investigation determined that the vehicle had been struck twice. There were no injuries to the 5 firefighters aboard. MPD will be handling the investigation.