Metro Briefs

DISTRICT

Worker rescued from ditch

D.C. firefighters yesterday freed a painter who fell about 25 feet into a concrete ditch at Howard University. The victim has multiple broken bones but is recovering.

The firefighters needed about 90 minutes to free the man, who fell through a metal grate near the university’s Founders Library. The ditch area was part of the building’s structure.

A fire department spokesman said the incident occurred at about 11:15 a.m. and that the rescuers used a series of pulleys and ropes to remove the man on a stretcher. The spokesman also said the rescue was complicated because the man fell into a narrow space.

MARYLAND

ROCKVILLE

Building fire kills 1, injures 3 firefighters

A fire early yesterday tore through multiple apartments in a Rockville building, killing one occupant and seriously injuring three firefighters who were in the building as it partially collapsed, according to the Montgomery County fire department.

A department spokesman said firefighters rescued at least four people from the burning section of the Halpine View Apartments. He also said two firefighters had to jump out a second-floor window when the third floor collapsed.

They and a colleague who escaped out a door were taken to Washington Hospital Center with burns and other injuries. The spokesman said the injuries are serious but not life-threatening.

At least 20 families were forced to flee their apartments in the three-story building, in the 12800 block of Twinbrook Parkway.

FREDERICK

5,200 expected for marathon

More than 5,000 runners are expected to participate in the Frederick marathon today.

Police are advising motorists to avoid the course from 6:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Participants will run past a number of city landmarks, including the National Museum of Civil War Medicine on East Patrick Street, the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum on Rosemont Avenue and the Carroll Creek Linear Park between East and Market streets.

Race director Rachel Ridgway says the race has grown from about 500 runners for the first marathon in 2003 to more than 3,000 last year.

VIRGINIA

RICHMOND

No federal aid for tornado victims

Virginia will not receive federal disaster assistance to help rebuild from a string of tornadoes that swept through the state on Monday.

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management says most of the homes and businesses that were destroyed or damaged were insured, falling short of the threshold required to declare a federal disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency cannot duplicate coverage provided by private insurance companies.

The National Weather Service now says at least 10 tornadoes struck Virginia on Monday. More than 200 people were injured, but no one was killed.

FAIRFAX

Officer charged after fatal crash

Fairfax County police have charged an officer with reckless driving in a crash that killed a teacher’s aide in February.

Police say Officer Amanda Perry, 22, was responding to a shoplifting call when her cruiser hit a car driven by Ashley McIntosh on Route 1 near Boswell Drive on Feb. 12. Miss McIntosh, 33, died at Inova Fairfax Hospital.

Miss McIntosh’s family says she worked as a teacher’s aide at Clairmont Elementary School in Alexandria.

Officer Perry, who was issued a summons at police headquarters, remains on restricted duty pending the outcome of an internal administrative review.

In a statement, the Fairfax Coalition of Police expressed condolences to the McIntosh family and its disapproval of the decision to charge Officer Perry.

From wire dispatches and staff reports