The D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission is a coordinated federal, local and military initiative launched in August 2025 to improve public safety and restore Washington, D.C.’s public spaces. Under Joint Task Force–District of Columbia, about 2,400–2,500 National Guard members support the Metropolitan Police Department and city agencies through presence patrols, assisting with law enforcement, cleaning up debris and maintaining parks and high‑visibility areas so the capital is safe, clean and welcoming for residents and visitors.
Joint Task Force – District of Columbia (JTF‑DC) is a headquarters element of the D.C. National Guard that coordinates Guard support to civil authorities in Washington, D.C., including the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission. It oversees Guard units from D.C. and several other states that were activated in August 2025 to assist local and federal law enforcement under a federal “crime emergency” order. As of late 2025 and early 2026, JTF‑DC is commanded by U.S. Army Col. Larry Doane.
The response involved three members of the West Virginia National Guard on a presence patrol along Massachusetts Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.: U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Brett Fries, U.S. Army Sgt. Devin Cantwell, and U.S. Army Pfc. Tyler E. Farley.
While on patrol, the Guardsmen noticed smoke from an apartment building. Senior Airman Brett Fries and Pfc. Tyler Farley, with help from a resident, entered the building and found a dryer on fire in the second‑floor laundry room, with flames spreading to the back wall, while Sgt. Devin Cantwell went to alert the nearby fire station. They located a fire extinguisher, put out the flames, escorted residents to safety, and had the fire under control before D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services arrived.
Available official and news accounts do not report any injuries from the incident. They state that a dryer caught fire in a second‑floor laundry room and the blaze had spread to the back wall before being extinguished, but they do not describe the extent of property damage beyond that.
Publicly available information does not give a fixed end date for the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission. Official descriptions in late 2025 and early 2026 portray it as an ongoing operation. One state (West Virginia) has said its Guard’s participation will be reviewed quarterly and could extend through the end of fiscal year 2026, but that timeline applies to that state’s contingent, not a formally announced end date for the overall mission.
