Think Progress

White House complex on fire.

By Faiz Shakir on Dec 19th, 2007 at 9:53 am

White House complex on fire.

The networks are reporting that a fire is burning inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The EEOB is located right next to the White House and holds much of the White House staff.

pic

UPDATE: MSNBC’s Kelly O’Donnell reports, “The Vice President was not in the ceremonial office. He was, in fact, in the Oval Office with the President at the time the fire broke out and that no one believed to be a part of the office has suffered any injuries.”

UPDATE II: “Preliminary indications are that the fire may have started in a room housing electrical or telephone equipment,” adjacent to Vice President Dick Cheney’s ceremonial office suite on the second floor.



102 Responses to “White House complex on fire.”

  1. A Patriot Acting says:

    Well there go the rest of the WH’s rendition/torture tapes and all
    those pesky hard drives.


  2. Guido OBGYN Lover says:

    The Shrub playing with matches I’m sure.


  3. Bluedahlia says:

    Wow, doesn’t that make things easier. Building 7 easier. Pentagon records easier.


  4. RantingTommy says:

    Let’s wait for more details before we start jumping to conclusions.


  5. desaparecido says:

    really? hang on.. let me go outside and check. I need to get coffee anyway. http://www.tshirtinsurgency.com


  6. Democrat Soldier says:

    I hope nobody is hurt!

    I wonder if it was started by the fire that began on the pants of the current Administration? (Liar, liar, pants on fire. . . .) ;-)


  7. Menehune says:

    The Reichstag–I mean Eisenhower Executive Office Building is on fire! Liberals must have done it! Or arabs!


  8. Bluedahlia says:

    I hope everyone gets out o.k. and there is not too much damage to this historic building. And lets hold off on the conspiracy theories for now.

    Comment by good_golly — December 19, 2007 @ 9:56 am

    Got damage control?


  9. Kay says:

    I’m sure the Nazi Chimp will somehow manage to blame Iran.

    And start WWIII.


  10. raynman says:

    Of course I hope that everyone is okay and that the firefighters are able to take care of this with no one hurt….

    But you can’t help but start wondering considering the secrecy and duplicity that this administration has shown ….


  11. Juan C. says:

    My guess is that a lot of help will be sent over there. It’s not New Orleans, anyway.


  12. OptimisticMF says:

    I agree with poster 2, but if we later hear them claim that important evidence was “lost” in this fire, I’m going to have an aneurysm.


  13. Kay says:

    Dr. Matt:

    hahaha
    Thanks for the morning laugh, I needed this!


  14. AlphaLiberal says:

    Looks like an evidence burning party got out of hand.


  15. Bluedahlia says:

    #14
    Oh come on. With all that has happened and is happening. How many more times do you have to be led to believe something they want you to? Seriously. You think you are being optimistic. I say you are being a chump. And when people get tired of being called chumps, maybe we can have some real progress happen. Benefit of the doubt…. after everything. I don’t think so.


  16. Marcus Aurelius says:

    How much you wanna’ bet that what was burning was all of the documents evidence these thugs haven’t had a chance to destroy?

    They were going to tell us that the dog ate it all, but they couldn’t find a big enough dog.


  17. toasterhead says:

    That sucks – that building has some of the most beautiful architecture in DC.


  18. Peter C says:

    “If only our keyboards had their letter ‘W’s, we could have called for water.”


  19. Corporate Jesus says:

    Guy Fawkes is that you?


  20. Kay says:

    Is this Cheney’s Reichstag moment?


  21. Bobwurst says:

    Given where the smoke is pouring out of (second story, facing the Whitehouse) the fire is most likely in a sensitive office.

    I did some construction work back in the early 80’s at the whitehouse, this is about the same area as Ollie North’s office…


  22. Marcus Aurelius says:

    That sucks – that building has some of the most beautiful architecture in DC.

    Comment by toasterhead — December 19, 2007 @ 10:08 am

    Yes, it is. My SO and I were driving past it a couple of nights ago, and comment on the elaborate architecture. We have always referred to it as the Old Executive Office Building (a new, much less impressive building having been built nearby in the late ’70s),


  23. Bobwurst says:

    re 12:

    That, is funny!


  24. tom says:

    Looks like an evidence burning party got out of hand.

    Either that or the shredder over-heated.


  25. A Patriot Acting says:

    Intercom announcement at The Eisenhower Executive Office Bldng:

    “All trolls please log off and evacuate single file. Exley, Cold_Hard_Left, please help the new guy good_golly find his way out. BillyHill would you please report to Mr. Cheney’s office ASAP for your daily sodomizing. That is all”


  26. Kay says:

    Boy, these criminals will go to any extent to get rid of incriminating evidence.

    I guess things were getting to close to the fire, so to speak.


  27. Zimzone says:

    Reposted:
    Latest word from the White House fire is that Cheney carried his man-sized safe out of the building on his back.

    After a quick battery replacement, the VP said he felt fine. Then he realized he didn’t have the safe’s combination with him. When asked why he was in such a hurry to open the safe, Mr. Cheney quietly said, ‘because the President is hiding in there’


  28. toasterhead says:

    We have always referred to it as the Old Executive Office Building (a new, much less impressive building having been built nearby in the late ’70s),

    Comment by Marcus Aurelius — December 19, 2007 @ 10:13 am

    Me too. It’s interesting that they named it after Eisenhower, considering that it was almost demolished during the Eisenhower administration.


  29. toasterhead says:

    So, will Iraq be changed to ‘dubyahistan’?

    Comment by Dr. Matt — December 19, 2007 @ 10:24 am

    Possibly, but this implies that there will be something left of Iraq in 20 or 30 years when we finally leave. I’m not that optimistic.


  30. Red Pill says:

    Reichstag Fire! All we need is to catch Abdullah al-van der Lubbe and the Enabling Act is a lock!


  31. toasterhead says:

    MSNBC is reporting that the EEOB houses top secret and classified documents……go figure.

    Comment by Dr. Matt — December 19, 2007 @ 10:21 am

    That’s not such a surprise – every federal building houses top secret and classified documents. Even your local post office houses sensitive but unclassified documents.


  32. nigel says:

    My first thought was let’s hope nobody gets hurt.

    My second was wouldn’t it be an amazing coincidence if Cheney’s “man sized safe” happened to be open and all those secret documents were destroyed….then I thought wait….. these guys are “competent” right, I mean they wouldn’t keep important documents somewhere at risk from things like a fire………..and they do have a sprinkler system….right?

    This may seem cynical but it has become hard not to be with this lot.


  33. Menehune says:

    I think #1 is more likely to be correct–it is described as an “electrical fire”. I’m guessing it will totally fry the e-mail back-up servers.


  34. Kay says:

    Even if this was purposely set by these thugs, they won’t get caught.

    They are still at large for 9/11.

    Cover-up is the name of the game for this bunch of criminals. Since day 1, in fact.


  35. IronMan says:

    We all know Cheney’s office has been under fire for a long time. Well, now it really is. Someone tell tricky Dick that target practice inside the EEOB is a dangerous game.

    Wonder how many top-secret docs went up in smoke this morning?


  36. Bluedahlia says:

    Only the incriminating ones…


  37. Briseadh na Faire says:

    “The fire started in an electrical closet or telephone bank area on the third floor, D.C. Fire Department spokesman Alan Etter said.”

    That’ll set NSA wiretapping back a bit.


  38. Bush is a four letter word says:

    We knew they were incompetent screwups, all we asked was they don’t burn the place down…


  39. alpuz3 says:

    Holy freakin’ convenient.

    Will this gem trump all “news” about Addington, Miers, Gonzo, and Bellinger?

    Bush showing the ole “watch me light a fart” frat-boy gag.

    And per usual, it was SENSATIONAL.


  40. S.D. says:

    Wow, the lengths they’ll go to destroy tapes!

    Kidding.
    I hope…


  41. Winski says:

    Ooopss..ALL evidence of anything ever done by dubyah, darth, fredo or addington is now gone.. this was a torch job.


  42. Tangeuray says:

    The “Secret Service” has allready concluded nothing suspicious.


  43. Mr Blifil says:

    I know Cheney’s an old guy, but has he not ever heard of electronic shredding?


  44. 2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda says:

    Wouldn’t it be funny if Jeff Gannon was found running out of the building with his pants around his ankles.


  45. RUCerious says:

    Glad no one was injured.

    Why would/could the SS keep fire investigators out of a PUBLIC building?


  46. Tangeuray says:

    Did you just say the SS?


  47. Kay says:

    Why would/could the SS keep fire investigators out of a PUBLIC building?

    Why was the steel from the World Trade Center sent to China for scrap metal — instead of investigating it?


  48. Leftside Annie says:

    Hmmmm. Dick Cheney’s office, eh? Well, they were ordered not to SHRED evidence.

    I guess the judge didn’t tell them they couldn’t BURN it.


  49. Clumberfeet says:

    The Bush administration will now fully comply with all the Congressional and Judaical subpoenas for tapes, E-mail archives and documents that weren’t destroyed in the Executive Office Building fire. A fire that looks suspiciously like the work of Al Qaeda.


  50. natisman says:

    I think Bill did too!


  51. ziggs13 says:

    I can see it now, Bush and Cheney dancing around the Oval Office raising the roof singing “The documents, the documents, the documents are on fire! We don’t need no water let the m-f-er burn!”


  52. dietrich says:

    Someone trying to smoke Cheney out of his cave?


  53. OptimisticMF says:

    Bluedahlia,

    Being optimistic does not make me a chump, it just makes me the opposite of a pessimist. The ironic thing here is, we’re probably on the same side in most respects. You assume that since I sided with someone who expressed sympathy first that and advised against conspiracy theories second, I’m some sort of apologist but you’re wrong. The first reaction to a situation like this should be to consider the welfare of those immediately affected and the preservation of property. My next reaction is also to assume the worst, but how many times have we believed the worst about this administration without sufficient proof? Let’s get some facts in so we’re not running around crying wolf.

    That being said, lack of proof more often than not is the result of insufficient investigation. By all means, let’s have more accountability and less secrecy with this administration. “Trust, but verify”.


  54. FearandSmear says:

    What is most sad is that the trust and faith and basic goodwill of the American people has been so deeply routed by the collusion and general “FU” behavior of this administration, that an electrical fire in a phone room is cause for people to genuinely question whether or not it was part of a nefarious plot to destroy damaging evidence…

    Distrust, disbelief, disdain. Cogratulations, right wingers, you have really “left your mark”…


  55. curmudgeon says:

    Can we even be certain that we will receive accurate information regarding any records and/or evidence that was stored there?

    If the information turns out to be “inconclusive”, it is important to consider the whole rather than each separate part.

    For example, if you lose a coin toss to someone who called “heads”, you probably wouldn’t think much of it, however, if the same thing happened twenty times in a row, a fair number of reasonable people might begin to think that the coin was weighted. The remainder (the anticonspiracy crowd) would continue to lose, much to the delight of their opponent.

    One only needs to review the history of similar situations that have occurred since January, 2001, and it would seem that in such matters, the Bush Administration has been either complicit or extremely lucky, as most,if not all situations have worked to their benefit.


  56. RUCerious says:

    Did you just say the SS?

    Comment by Tangeuray — December 19, 2007 @ 11:07 am

    Yes, could mean Secret Service, or in a more sinister take,
    Sugared Suzies…


  57. Lefty Patriot says:

    So, conspiracy theorists. If this was a conspiracy, and building #7 was a conspiracy, why didn’t this one fall like building #7? Which time were you wrong?

    Comment by good_golly — December 19, 2007 @ 11:36 am

    wowie zowie, you sure got us, didn’t you? I forgot that all conspiracies are exactly alike.


  58. Bluedahlia says:

    That being said, lack of proof more often than not is the result of insufficient investigation. By all means, let’s have more accountability and less secrecy with this administration. “Trust, but verify”.

    And how is that going to get done? A letter? A stern voice of disapproval? All that does is enable. Until something is DONE, nothing is.

    My thoughts did not immediately go to hoping that everyone is safe because based on past actions of this administration, I have assumed this is an inside job. When someone gets harmed, that turns to murder and that is too messy to clean up. It stinks that a fabulous piece of our historical architecture was damaged, but I never once thought anyone would get hurt.


  59. Uncle Ho says:

  60. Bobwurst says:

    So, conspiracy theorists. If this was a conspiracy, and building #7 was a conspiracy, why didn’t this one fall like building #7? Which time were you wrong?

    Comment by good_golly

    Because you have the wrong conspiracy doofus. This fire was started by a magic bullet.


  61. stephennnn says:

    Apparently the shredder wasn’t fast enough.


  62. Juan C. says:

    So, conspiracy theorists. If this was a conspiracy, and building #7 was a conspiracy, why didn’t this one fall like building #7? Which time were you wrong?
    Comment by good_golly

    Maybe we should watch BBC and they must be reporting already that the Eisenhower Building has already fallen.


  63. alpuz3 says:

    CNN reports that the fire may have broken out in an electrical closet adjacent to VP Cheney’s ceremonial offices and the offices of David Addington.

    There’s that name again.

    Addington.


  64. SP Biloxi says:

    That should be a clue to Bush. Bad karma is coming his way.


  65. Charles James Napier says:

    Big Dick Cheney and his Haliburton buddies must have knocked a candle over during a late night gay orgy and paper shredding party.

    /…just trying to get into the TP spirit.


  66. Guido OBGYN Lover says:

    Lemme guess all the visitor logs and CIA memos got burned all up huh


  67. Lefty Patriot says:

    Big Dick Cheney and his Haliburton buddies must have knocked a candle over during a late night gay orgy and paper shredding party.

    /…just trying to get into the TP spirit.

    Comment by Charles James Napier — December 19, 2007 @ 12:10 pm

    we generally aren’t literal, but whatever works for you.


  68. sacopenapa says:

    Operetaion DESTROY EVIDENCE must gone wrong…


  69. Buckie Boy says:

    5 million emails up in smoke.

    Bush/Cheney
    Hague Trials ‘09

    Buck Fush


  70. OptimisticMF says:

    Bluedahlia,

    You’re full of piss and vinegar and little else. What are you proposing we do? Are you ready for the revolution, or are you sitting around with your knitting, writing scathing commentary on TP?

    I want something to get DONE also, but I am a realistic optimist. We’re watching history unfold, we’re watching another story of hubris (thank you Tony Kornheiser) play itself out. Make fun all you want, but writing letters and voicing disapproval are part of the process. When you no longer respect the process, then go ahead and start the movement, but until then, take your condescending tone and shove it.


  71. Cricket says:

    Duz ya think maybe the shredders overheated, or sum uv the stiff staff finally hadda heated discust..ion!!!!!!


  72. RUCerious says:

    Do you suppose the place just spontaneously combusted due to the overwhelming evil that resides there?


  73. lik my ballz says:

    the one thing that really suprises me about all the stupid conspiricy post is not the fact that alot of you actually believe what your posting…….its that you haven’t blamed global warming yet…….what a bunch of idiots!


  74. WaltTheMan says:

    RU,
    No the “undisclosed place” where Darth spends most of his time is actually Hell. The elevator that goes back and forth originates in the telephone closet. The car was at the bottom of the shaft when a technician opened the door and the updraft caused the fire. It was an accident, Darth forgot to lock the door to the closet.


  75. Gregor Samsa says:

    If I were superstitious, I’d say this is a bad omen.

    Cynical that I am, I’ll say instead this White House was going down in flames already anyway -at least metaphorically speaking.


  76. Leftside Annie says:

    herr dubyah dropped his bong on the carpet and the whole place caught ablaze

    Comment by Dr. Matt — December 19, 2007 @ 10:03 am

    Wrong president dufus.

    Comment by Southern Man — December 19, 2007 @ 12:25 pm

    Ooooooh! Pardon us. It must have been his crack pipe he dropped.


  77. tombaker says:

    update II there is very telling. cheney office? telecom equipment?

    ol’dickster learned a lot at the teat of nixon and segretti.


  78. tombaker says:

    81 – back on the meds, bro, or we’ll be watching the cops shoot you on cnn later today.


  79. lik my ballz says:

    wow….now the cops are in on it too. the gov’ts out to get everyone ohhhhhh nooooooo! the sky is falling…the sky is falling….seriously do you guys actually believe the postings on here?


  80. tombaker says:

    Dixie Boy is right – Dubbie would’ve dropped a freebase pipe, not a bong.


  81. tombaker says:

    88 – only those posts left by random crazies such as yourself, so don’t get too agitated.


  82. Ret. Col. Jack Ripper says:

    I have noticed over the years that there are more house fires in a given neighborhood during a down market than during an up market. I’m guessing many of the documents congress has been demanding have been destroyed in the fire – by sheer coincidence.


  83. lik my ballz says:

    not agitated but amused by the fact that since i dont agree with your group think that im considered crazy……and if crazy is not buying into the conspiricy theories such as WTC #7, Haliburton is Satan and any wierdo gov’t conspiricy then well then maybe I am.


  84. NoMoreBush says:

    What? Did Cheney get to close to the window and busrt into flames? although it is a cloudy day today in DC


  85. tombaker says:

    i don’t even know who the hell you are 92, if i did, and had concluded you had some cred, knowledge, etc., then i certainly wouldn’t declare you crazy. call me crazy, but that’s how i roll.

    if u just want to pop in and bark for attention, you’re probably going to get a lot, but maybe not the kind you were hoping for.

    everyone here is down for a conversation, but no one is down for loaded questions, proving they’re not the strawman, and all those other playground games

    if you’ve got some real stuff to talk about – fine. if it all amounts to barking and games, you can prolly count on getting flagged til you’re banned, then coming back again with another handle to repeat the cycle. we’ve seen it happen planty of times, and it’s pretty tedious


  86. Ret. Col. Jack Ripper says:

    Crazy Bush cultist: “and if crazy is not buying into the conspiricy theories such as WTC #7″

    Hey stupid. Has a steel-framed building EVER fallen without being hit by a jet or without a major fire or for any reason? You don’t have to believe in conspiracies to wonder about THAT one.


  87. DieNowForPeace says:

    take your condescending tone and shove it.

    Comment by OptimisticMF

    The only condescending tone here is coming from someone who claims to be the optimist. Like most self-appointed names, your’s is nothing but hyperbole.

    More like OptimisticAhole…


  88. lik my ballz says:

    Hey #95 popular mechanics answered all the WTC questions


  89. lik my ballz says:

    oh wait I’m the cultist? I love the liberal socialist rage…..it so so what are the words I’m thinking of?…..so…oh yeah so much of the same non thinking bs I’ve heard out of the mainstream media for years. Get over it. You guys hate Cheney because he beat down Edwards like a little punk in the VP debate in the last election cycle. You want substance tombaker well Cheney has been in public service for over 30 years in multiple administrations, headed a billion dollar a year organization and served on a board of directors of a fortune 500 company…..so all in all he’s a pretty experienced guy. I doubt he’s a document shredder or a person who would steal documents from the national archives….see Sandy Burger. The conspiricy theories are tiresome and a little amusing but mainly tiresome. I know you don’t want me here in your little socialist utopia where you wear blinders to the real events that happen in the world. You know like the multple terrorist attacks on Slick Willies watch like WTC 1, the Cole, Embassies in Rydia and Kenya…and the lack of action taken. Or even the fact that we are winning in Iraq and all the European gov’ts are behind us (see Sarkozys statement about Syria). So I bid good day to you and yours sir so you all can stick your head back in the sand.

    P.S. just one post script the bumpersticker slogan “War on Terror” was coined by none other the Bill Clinton


  90. tombaker says:

    that’s nice, cartman. good for you. have a cheezy-poof.


  91. lik my ballz says:

    and thats the best you can do at a substantive dialogue? well done sir…..well done


  92. alpuz3 says:

    Cheney has been in public service for over 30 years in multiple administrations, headed a billion dollar a year organization and served on a board of directors of a fortune 500 company…..so all in all he’s a pretty experienced guy.

    -by lik my ballz?

    exactly! nice to see you starting to see the light.
    nice moniker, tiny. But, they’ll have to drop first.

    ………


  93. Jeremy in Denver says:

    Wow. An angry troll. Heh. Well, if I have anything to say about it, he’ll be gone whether he wants to be or not. Reason: Obscenity, specifically in his user name. That is in addition to everything else his post contains.

    Personally, I like the idea about the techie who accidentally opened the door to the telecom locker/doorway to heck right as Cheney sneezed and shot a massive fireball up the elevator shaft. :)

    And honestly, with all the lost e-mails and stubborn refusals to turn over information to the congress, you think that there’s no chance that a fire in Cheney’s office destroyed classified information? Riiight. I believe that. And I’ve got this bridge I’d like to sell you, too.


  94. tombaker says:

    Jeremy – they’ve already bought their bridge – only cost’em 2 trillion – i know – how did they ever get such a good deal on it?


  95. Namtillaku says:

    They really need to be burning those papers in a wastebasket.


  96. John Hair says:

    Rumor has it that Bush had outsourced “on the premises” shreading of any/and or all incriminating evidence but with all the overwhelming volume thereof, the machine overheated, caught the building on fire and Bush/Cheney Gov Busters could not get Blackwater to respond quick enough and had to rely on regular firefighters or we would not have even have found out if there had really been fire. Heaven knows, Georgey boy wouldn’t want to burden the American people with such trival matters.


  97. OxyCon says:

    At first I thought the fire was started by Cheney’s paper shredder overheating from being run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But after that second update, I’m starting to think the fire was caused by Cheney’s illegal wire tap machinery.


  98. OleHippieChick says:

    “The Vice President was not in the ceremonial office.”

    Like any good Mafia don, he was somewhere else. With witnesses.


  99. OptimisticMF says:

    Dienowforpeace,

    You can shove it too you prick, nobody asked you. What, are you bluedahlia’s self appointed protector? That person went after me unprovoked and I responded, now I’ve got you and your second rate responses too. Next time you want to stick your nose into a conversation, make a point.


  100. stjack says:

    screw those guys. pod 6 is jerks.


  101. OleHippieChick says:

    Lightning struck his throne.


  102. kscoyote says:

    When Cheney teleported in for work, he must’ve forgotten to leave the sulfer, fire and brimstone home!



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