News

Driver hospitalized after vehicle explosion near Burke Town Plaza

By Angela Woolsey
A Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department ambulance responds to a vehicle explosion on Lee Chapel Road in Burke (via FCFRD/X)

A vehicle explosion rattled Burke earlier this morning (Thursday), sending the driver to the hospital and shutting down Lee Chapel Road.

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department was dispatched around 7:34 a.m. to Lee Chapel Road at Old Keene Mill Road for a vehicle fire near Burke Town Plaza, a shopping center anchored by Safeway.

“The driver is injured, callers advised the vehicle blew up,” a dispatcher conveyed to responders, according to emergency scanner traffic.

The incident was initially described on the scanner as a “two-vehicle accident,” but responders soon confirmed that only one vehicle was involved. A dispatcher told police that the vehicle that caught on fire was carrying a propane tank.

“It looks like it was an explosion,” a firefighter said at 7:43 a.m. “I’ve got a homeowner getting ready to call 911 [who] advised something hit her house when the car exploded.”

The driver was transported to a hospital by a helicopter for treatment. Their injuries were not life-threatening, FCFRD spokesperson Ashley Hildebrandt told FFXnow.

No firefighter injuries were reported, but as of press time, Lee Chapel Road remains closed at Old Keene Mill as the fire department investigates the vehicle explosion.

“Preliminary investigation indicates fire was related to a propane cylinder inside the vehicle,” the FCFRD said on social media shortly after 9 a.m.

The Fairfax County Police Department, which is assisting with the investigation, advised drivers to “please use an alternate route.”

About the Author

  • Angela Woolsey is the site editor for FFXnow. A graduate of George Mason University, she worked as a general assignment reporter for the Fairfax County Times before joining Local News Now as the Tysons Reporter editor in 2020.