Two fire investigators are suing the District over allegations that they were punished for blowing the whistle on botched investigations, including in the department’s probe of the blaze that gutted the historic Eastern Market.

Greg Bowyer and Gerald Pennington claim in a federal suit filed Thursday that they were removed from their jobs after they reported that a serial arsonist set fire to the 135-year-old market. The findings contradicted Fire Chief Dennis Rubin’s public assertions that the fire was accidental and caused by electrical problems.