Orange alignment, Fire at building next to White House in D.C.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Firefighters quickly doused a two-alarm fire Wednesday in the historic Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which houses the vice president's ceremonial offices and the majority of the White House staff. Firefighting crews used axes to break windows on the third floor of the ornate building shortly after the two-alarm blaze broke out after 9 a.m. The fire started near the vice presidential offices, CNN's Kathleen Koch reported. At its peak, heavy black smoke streamed from the building. Within an hour, smoke had stopped pouring from the building and was replaced by a fine mist of water, which the firefighters used to ventilate the building until they could get fans set up. Vice President Dick Cheney's working offices are in the West Wing of the White House, where he was at the time of the fire . There were no reports of injuries from the blaze, which appeared to be confined to the third floor, said D.C. Fire Department spokesman Alan Etter. Et