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1968 Fire in Defense Communications Agency HQ Building 12
In the early morning hours of January 19th, 1968, a fire broke out on the fourth floor of the Defense Communications Agency’s Building 12 at 701 South Courthouse Road in Arlington, Virginia. Only eight years old, the predecessor of the Defense Information Systems Agency had moved from its first home in Washington, DC to the Naval Service Center buildings. Building 12 served as the headquarters office building as well as the home of major electrical communications equipment.
Just after 6am on that cold morning, a passerby noticed smoke coming from the DCA. They alerted a perimeter guard who then called the Arlington Fire Department. By the time the Department arrived to extinguish the fire, severe damage had already occurred. By the end, the staff was confronted with destroyed equipment, melted ceilings and uninhabitable offices. Along with recommendations, the final report discovered the source to have been a coffee hot plate left unattended or a cigarette that had been carelessly discarded.
The DCA responded quickly to recover from the gutting catastrophe and soon was back up to full speed in performance of its mission. However, the fire has never receded too far from the corporate memory and even today, in a state-of-the art building in Ft. Meade, MD, DISA HQ is careful to support and maintain the highest of safety standards for its people and equipment.
| Date Taken: | 01.15.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 01.20.2026 06:51 |
| Category: | Series |
| Video ID: | 993109 |
| VIRIN: | 260115-O-WH300-1678 |
| Filename: | DOD_111482371 |
| Length: | 00:00:59 |
| Location: | US |
| Downloads: | 1 |
| High-Res. Downloads: | 1 |
This work, DISA History Minute - 1968 Fire, by Nicholas Kurtz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
