While Virginia Task Force 1 remains busy combing through rubble in Venezuela for potential survivors of the earthquakes that devastated the country last week, Fairfax County officials are investigating a fire at its training facility in Lorton.
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, which sponsors the federally funded urban search and rescue team, responded to the 9900 block of Furnace Road at around 5:20 p.m. on Saturday (June 27) after receiving reports that “a large column of black smoke” was issuing from the training facility.
“Crews arrived to find a large storage facility with commercial equipment fully engulfed in flames,” the FCFRD said in a press release yesterday (Monday). “There were no civilian or firefighter injuries.”
The fire department estimates that the blaze resulted in over $1 million in damages to facilities and equipment used to train the task force, which responds to both national and international disasters and humanitarian crises.
Surveillance footage shared by the FCFRD shows at least six people on the property about an hour before the fire was reported.
#FCFRD @FairfaxCountyPD seeking public's help identifying individuals captured on video in connection with fire at FCFRD Urban Search & Rescue training facility in Lorton on 6/27 at 5:20pm. Anyone with info is asked to submit a tip through Crime Solvers👉 https://t.co/xs89o9Fi3T pic.twitter.com/UJTeLNMYPk
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) June 29, 2026
According to the time-stamped video, a pair of individuals walked up a metal tower with stairs at around 4:14 p.m., and three minutes later, people are seen pulling open the doors of a large shed. Some of them enter the building, while others wait outside. The shed is then seen on fire in footage from a Flock Safety camera.
The fire is under investigation by both the FCFRD, which is working to determine the cause, and the Fairfax County Police Department, which is reviewing it for potential criminal charges.
“Anyone who recognizes the individuals or who has information about the incident is asked to submit a tip through Crime Solvers by phone – 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477)” or online, the FCFRD said.
Established in 1986, Virginia Task Force 1 is made up of approximately 200 fire and rescue personnel based in Fairfax County. Its domestic missions are funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, while international responses are supported by the U.S. State Department after the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was dismantled by the Trump administration.
