A fire that appears to have been fueled by natural gas blazed through two Franconia townhouses last night (Sunday), leaving the residence in ruins but its occupants apparently unharmed.
Several Fairfax County Fire and Rescue units responded to the 6500 block of Gladys May Lane in the Enclave at Long Branch neighborhood around 9:09 p.m. for the fire, which started in one unit near the end of a townhouse row before “quickly spreading” to an adjacent unit, according to the fire department.
One person who called 911 around 9:12 p.m. described hearing “a loud explosion,” a dispatcher relayed to responders on the emergency scanner.
“Crews arrived with heavy fire showing from two townhomes. A second alarm was requested,” the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) said in a social media post shortly after 11 p.m.
According to the scanner, firefighters may have faced challenges with accessing a sufficient supply of water due to fire hydrants being frozen. A control valve for the gas line in one of the townhouses that was feeding the fire was also “frozen shut.”
NEW: A two-alarm fire in Fairfax County on Gladys May Lane in Franconia. Multiple three-story townhomes are on fire with severe water supply problems due to a number of frozen hydrants. @ffxfirerescue @ffxnow @NFTC_News @matthewyoung31 #firefighters pic.twitter.com/2h7tWUCZHZ
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) February 2, 2026
Washington Gas was called to the scene to shut down the gas line for approximately 20 to 30 homes, per the scanner.
By 11 p.m., firefighters had gotten “the bulk of the fire under control,” but crews were still battling the “gas fed fire in the basement” of one townhouse, the FCFRD said.
No injuries were reported, but it’s not clear yet how many people were displaced by the blaze, fire department spokesperson Ashley Hildebrandt told FFXnow.
The Alexandria and Prince George’s County fire departments both provided assistance.
Jared Serre contributed to this report. Photo via FCFRD/X.
