District emergency crews responded to a record number of calls during President Obama’s inauguration, fire officials said.
Between 4 a.m. and 7 p.m., the D.C. fire department answered more than 1,266 calls citywide, 500 of which were handled inside the Washington Mall area, including rushing Sen. Edward Kennedy from inside the Capitol during the president’s swearing-in luncheon.
The total number is more than two-and-a-half times the 500 calls the city handles during a typical 24-hour period, fire officials said.
“It was literally a patient per 20 seconds,” said D.C. fire spokesman Alan Etter.
Most of the calls involved falls or symptoms related to below-freezing temperatures. None of those was considered serious, fire officials said. More than 200 ambulances and personnel were brought in from nearby jurisdictions such as Sterling, Va., and Rockville.
The U.S. Secret Service agents who coordinated about 42,000 police and military personnel for the event were pleased with the cooperation and planning of the 58 agencies, as well as the behavior of the more than 1.5 million people who poured onto the National Mall.
Law enforcement officials made no arrests related to the inauguration, said Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley. Most of the security calls were minor issues, such as unattended packages that turned out to be false alarms, lost children and moving of barriers as the events ended.
D.C. police said they knew of no arrests or unusual incidents related to the extended bar hours and the party atmosphere during the four days of ceremonies.
There were some tense moments.
For instance, at the checkpoint into the parade route near 12th Street outside the Old Post Office, an orderly line fell apart before 9 a.m. when hundreds of people rushed the front. People in the back began pushing forward while those in the front braced against the surge.
At least one woman lost track of her child in the chaos, and another person needed medical attention, which took several minutes to arrive. National Guard units hopped on Jersey barricades and tried to help.
“People were in line and there was no problem and then they let everybody rush through like that,” said Linda Buie of Upper Marlboro, who had been waiting in the line since 5 a.m. “It’s not fair. That’s how riots start.”
