Author: FFXnow.com

County Task Force Back After Assisting With Turkey Earthquake Rescues — “After an intense 11 days searching for survivors in the wreckage of collapsed buildings, members of Virginia Task Force 1 have returned home. They arrived at their base in Chantilly just before midnight on Monday, to a hero’s welcome organized by family and friends.” [WTOP]

Firefighters Tackle Brush Fires in Springfield — “As winds picked up across the DMV Tuesday evening, crews in Fairfax County dealt with several outside fires. According to a spokesperson from the Fairfax County Fire Department (FCFD), crews worked to extinguish multiple outside fires on Old Keene Mill Road near Harwood Place in West Springfield.” [WUSA9]

Fire Danger Heightened Today — “There is an increased fire danger for Tuesday, February 21st. Outdoor burning is strongly discouraged during this time and remember to properly dispose of smoking material.” [Ready Fairfax/Twitter]

Mount Vernon School Board Rep to Retire — “Karen Corbett Sanders, the Mount Vernon District representative to the Fairfax County School Board, announced Feb. 15 that she will not be running for a third term later this year…Corbett Sanders told On the Move that her decision not to pursue a third term was difficult and one that she didn’t take lightly.” [On the MoVe]

FCPD Focuses on Stopping Teen Distracted Driving — “Police in Fairfax County…are ramping up traffic enforcement during distracted-driving month, partnering with schools to educate the most distracted drivers — teenagers…Officers have written 5,000 more citations and warnings to speeding and distracted drivers than this same time last year.” [WTOP]

Fire Department Adds Data Dashboard — “Our Fire and Rescue Department is constantly updating the ways it provides service to meet the needs of residents…The department launched RescueVision to provide real-time situational awareness and decision support at the 911 dispatch center.” It offers a look at service availability, transport locations and how coverage compares to other departments. [Fairfax County Government]

Turkey Earthquake Rescue Worker Shares Experience — “Dr. Murteza Shahkolahi has helped to pull survivors from the rubble several days after the quake first hit…Shahkolahi is with Virginia Task Force 1, the team from Fairfax County, Virginia, which gets deployed around the world to respond to natural disasters.” [WTOP]

Politicians Pitch Springfield for FBI HQ — “A bipartisan group of Virginia’s federal, state and local leaders met in Springfield Wednesday, calling on the General Services Administration to choose the 58 acres of federally-owned land at the GSA Franconia Warehouse Complex for the new FBI headquarters.” [Inside NoVA]

Architect of the Capitol Fired After Reckless Driving Probe — “President Joe Biden has fired the embattled Architect of the Capitol, Brett Blanton, following a scathing inspector general report on his personal and professional management and calls for his removal.” The inspector general found that Blanton’s family was misusing his work vehicle after a 2021 reckless driving incident involving his daughter near the Tysons Walmart. [NBC4]

Springfield Lego Center Chooses Master Builder — “Andrew Litterst’s [most impressive LEGO creation] is a bunch of LEGO Star Wars spaceships mounted on an electric LEGO train so that they chase each other on tracks around the room. So it’s no wonder he was just named LEGO’s Master Builder in the D.C. region — the first to hold that title at the soon-to-open LEGO Discovery Center” [DCist]