The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (March 3) endorsed plans by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for pedestrian and bicyclist improvements along two segments of Route 29 in Centreville.
The project aims to upgrade multimodal facilities:
All Centreville residents displaced by the natural gas leak that resulted in a house explosion and fire on Feb. 15 have now been cleared to return home.
Washington Gas says it restored gas service to the 19 remaining evacuated homes by 10 p.m. on Tuesday (Feb. 24), and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department (FCFRD) has now lifted its evacuation order after detecting no gas in the environment for 48 consecutive hours.
More than a week after a house in Centreville was decimated by a fire, leading dozens of residents to evacuate, investigators have finally identified the source of a natural gas leak that might’ve caused the explosion.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has removed a section of polyethylene plastic pipe near the corner of Quail Pond Court and Belle Plains Drive that leaked air during pressure testing, sending to a lab in D.C. for examination.
Residents have started to return to the Centreville neighborhood that was evacuated last week after a gas leak fueled an explosion and fire that consumed one home.
As of noon yesterday (Sunday), Washington Gas has restored service to 44 homes determined to be clear for re-entry, 42 of which have seen occupants return, the utility said in an afternoon update.
Authorities are still working to stabilize and identify the exact source of the natural gas-related home explosion in Centreville on Sunday (Feb. 15). The ongoing leak has led to days-long evacuations and gas service shutoffs for nearby homes.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates gas transmission pipeline incidents, is leading the federal investigation into the home explosion.
Cami Minks was getting ready for bed in her Centreville home on a quiet Sunday night, when suddenly, her house vibrated from the sound of an enormous explosion.
“I thought it was a bomb,” Minks, a resident of the Belle Pond neighborhood, recalled. “It was that loud. It shook everything.”
Dozens of Centreville residents are still unable to return home almost a day after a fiery explosion possibly fueled by a natural gas leak rocked their neighborhood.
The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department responded around 9:48 p.m. yesterday (Sunday) to the 14300 block of Quail Pond Court in the Belle Pond Farm neighborhood after receiving multiple calls about “a loud explosion.”
As Fairfax County officials prepare recommendations for Centreville’s future for review, one supervisor hopes to see a focus on options for boosting housing.
Fairfax County is updating its Centreville comprehensive plan, a long-term land use guide for the community’s core to complement the zoning ordinance. The Centreville plan amendment was one topic Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith (D) addressed in remarks at the 2026 State of Centreville hosted by the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce on Friday (Feb. 6).
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed County Executive Bryan Hill last Tuesday (Feb. 3) to consider ways a number of “placemaking” organizations — including Visit Fairfax, Volunteer Fairfax and the Tysons Community Alliance — could be consolidated or restructured to reduce costs and be more operationally strategic.
“While each provides value, fragmentation and duplicative services dilute impact and reduce efficiency,” board members said in the directive to Hill.
An already busy Centreville shopping center flanked by H Mart, Spa World and various eateries was even more crowded than usual when the Japanese department store Teso Life opened last Friday (Jan. 16).
The chain carries a variety of Japanese and other Asian home goods, food, personal care items and more. Its new location in the Old Centreville Crossing shopping center (13860 Braddock Road) is the first in Virginia and the second in the D.C. region, following an opening in Rockville, Maryland, in 2024.
