(Updated 4:50 p.m.) Firefighters are battling a two-alarm fire with possible hazardous materials at a warehouse in Sterling.
Smoke is billowing into the skies over Fairfax from a fire at Prospect Waterproofing Company (118 Acacia Lane). It is possible that a gas line was struck, per scanner traffic. Police said at 3:31 p.m. that the gas exposure has been controlled.
The building reportedly contains ion batteries and diesel generators.
Hazmat units were requested to assist.
The fire was reported around 3:10 p.m.
LCFR is on scene of a structure fire in the 100 block of Acacia Ln. in Sterling. No reported civilian injuries. One FF evaluated on scene for heat exhaustion. Media staging is at Moran Rd. & Acacia Ln. pic.twitter.com/b0EQ0mNkUP
— ๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐ (@LoudounFire) April 22, 2024
https://t.co/EWjrJuOqct pic.twitter.com/8iu3Lt9Tth
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) April 22, 2024
The two-alarm warehouse fire in Loudoun County can be seen for many miles and involves hazardous materials. https://t.co/A0jI4e6WeK
— Dave Statter (@STATter911) April 22, 2024
โฆ@WTOPโฉ Massive fire in Sterling/Dulles. Any ideas? pic.twitter.com/3rbnR3UyxX
— Michael Kurtzke (@MKurtzke) April 22, 2024
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue is on the scene of a two-alarm house fire in Clifton.
The fire broke out at a split-level home on the 13900 block of Whetstone Manor Court sometime around 9 a.m.
Two occupants were removed from the home. Scanner traffic indicated at least one of the occupants was a child who was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital.
As of 9:50 a.m., firefighters were working on bringing the fire under control.
#FCFRD is on scene of a two-alarm house fire in the 13900 blk of Whetstone Manor Court in Clifton. Units arrived with heavy fire and reports of two trapped occupants. Currently working to bring the fire under control. Two occupants were removed from the home. pic.twitter.com/FrVLoZwhZL
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) April 10, 2024
Image via Google Maps
Great Falls volunteer firefighters are set to bartend at The Old Brogue this Thursday (March 14) to raise funds for the casualties of the Feb. 19 Sterling house explosion, including Sterling Volunteer Fire Company firefighter Trevor Brown.
Fundraising hours will take from place from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday.
The Old Brogue (760 Walker Road) first opened on Saint Patrickโs Day in 1981. The Malone family took over the pub’s operations and ownership in 2022.
โWhat makes The Old Brogue truly special is both its rich history in Irish hospitality dating back to the first steakhouse opened in Derry, Ireland, and the charming and warm environment of The Old Brogue that has earned its place as a pillar of the community today,โ Patrick Malone, a spokesman for The Old Brogue, said.
Customers are encouraged to bring cash and โtip bigโ at the event.
The house explosion killed Brown, a 45-year-old firefighter and father of three who had been with the Loudoun County volunteer department since 2016. Fourteen others were also injured.
The fire was the result of a leak involving a 500-gallon underground propane tank and a un-contained propane tank that moved around the structure that was ignited by an unknown ignition source, according to Loudoun County fire officials.
Property damage extended to at least six additional homes, resulting in damages of roughly $2.5 million.
The Great Falls Volunteer Fire Department works with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department’s career staff out of Station 12 at 9916 Georgetown Pike.
(Updated at 8:35 p.m.) The Towers Crescent office building in Tysons has been evacuated in response to a reported fire.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department units were dispatched to 8000 Towers Crescent Drive around 7:26 p.m. for the high-rise fire, according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.
Crews are currently evacuating the commercial building and investigating smoke on the ninth floor, the FCFRD tweeted at 7:46 p.m. The smoke was reported by the building’s security team, and an odor was confirmed by firefighters on the scene, per the scanner.
The cause has yet to be determined, but on the scanner, firefighters described the odor as “electrical” in nature.
“No firefighter injuries have been reported,” the department said. As of 8:15 p.m., there have been no reported civilian injuries either, a spokesperson told FFXnow.
The 17-story, Class A office building is topped by the 22,000-square-foot Towers Club, where a party with about 60 people had to be evacuated.
“They’re ready to leave,” a firefighter said on the scanner at 8:12 p.m.
It’s unclear how many people overall needed to be evacuated.
Units are on scene of a reported fire in a high-rise building in the 8000 blk of Towers Crescent Dr in the Tysons area. Crews are currently investigating smoke from the 9th floor. The building is being evacuated. No firefighter injuries have been reported. pic.twitter.com/ASlosEXVW1
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) February 1, 2024
(Updated at 5:15 p.m.) Two people died in separate house fires over the weekend, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department says.
The first fire occurred in the 3800 block of Kings Hill Court in Mount Vernon around 5:58 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 20).
Summoned by a neighbor who saw a fire from the back of a two-story single-family house, firefighters arrived to see the blaze making its way from the first floor up to the second floor, according to an FCFRD press release.
After “quickly” extinguishing the fire, firefighters found a man described as elderly inside the house. He was taken with life-threatening injuries to a hospital, where he later died, the department said.
“The cause of death is pending an autopsy and toxicology report from the medical examiner,” the department said in a news release today (Monday). “There were no firefighter injuries.”
Investigators determined that the house had smoke alarms, but it’s unclear if they were triggered by the fire, which started in the living room.
The exact cause of the fire hasn’t yet been determined, according to the fire department. Some residents of the house who weren’t home at the time of the fire have been displaced.
The FCFRD estimates that the fire resulted in approximately $475,500 in property damages.
Just before 6pm this evening units from #FCFRD responded to a house fire in the 3800 blk of Kings Hill Ct. Crews arrived with fire showing. The fire is out. During fire attack crews located and rescued one occupant. The occupant has been transported to a nearby hospital. pic.twitter.com/vlh7Nr9VET
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) January 21, 2024
Later that evening, the fire department responded at approximately 11:23 p.m. to another fire at a two-story, single-family house, this time in the 8200 block of Mockingbird Drive in Annandale’s Wakefield neighborhood.
According to the FCFRD, arriving crews saw “heavy fire” visible from the house’s roof. A woman was found inside and taken to a hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
As in the Mount Vernon fire, no firefighter injuries were reported, and the woman’s cause of death will be officially determined by an autopsy and toxicology report from the medical examiner.
“The fire was called in by a neighbor who reported seeing flames from the roof of the home,” the FCFRD said. “The origin of the fire was within the attic space of the structure. The cause has been attributed to a fault within the electrical lighting branch circuit related to the second-floor bathroom.”
The Wakefield fire produced approximately $639,913 in damages, the fire department reported.
These are the first fatal fire incidents of 2024, but on Dec. 11, a man was found dead in a McLean house where a two-alarm fire broke out.
Units are on the scene of a house fire in the 8200 blk of Mockingbird Dr. Crews arrived with fire through the roof. The fire is out. During fire attack crews located and rescued one occupant. The occupant has been transported to a nearby hospital. Fire investigators are on scene. pic.twitter.com/dB9fOBhu5L
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) January 21, 2024
South Lakes High School was evacuated this morning (Wednesday) for what turned out to be a “small” fire in a bathroom, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department says.
Firefighters were dispatched to the school at 11400 South Lakes Drive in Reston around 8:45 a.m. for a building fire, according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.
A school resource officer reported that “a small fire in a metal bin in one of the bathrooms” had been put out, but a fire response was still needed to clear the scene.
“Crews located and quickly extinguished a small fire in a bathroom,” the FCFRD said. “The school was evacuated. No civilian or firefighter injuries.”
The police officer also said a medic was required for a student who had passed out in an incident that was unrelated to the fire. At 8:47 a.m., he reported that the student had regained consciousness but was not feeling well.
According to an FCFRD spokesperson, the situation is not life-threatening, and there’s no indication at this point that drugs were involved. The cause of the fire also hasn’t been determined yet.
#FCFRD units are on scene of a fire in the 11400 blk of South Lakes Dr (South Lakes High School) in Reston. Crews located and quickly extinguished a small fire in a bathroom. The school was evacuated. No civilian or firefighter injuries. @fcpsnews pic.twitter.com/QToWfnrU4G
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) January 3, 2024
An explosion that occurred while firefighters were putting out a blaze at Build America Plaza in Bailey’s Crossroads in early November was caused by a backdraft, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department says.
Investigators have determined that the fire and “dramatic” explosion were accidental, resulting from degraded power lines that arced and sparked an “underground fire involving the insulation of adjacent communication lines,” the FCFRD reported today (Tuesday).
Firefighters were called to the shopping center at 3819 South George Mason Drive around 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 7 after 911 received reports of smoke in one of the commercial buildings.
“Crews arrived to find smoke in the building with no fire showing,” the fire department said, describing the incident as a “utility emergency.”
The building was evacuated, but when firefighters opened a door to a shed that appeared to be the source of the smoke, a fiery explosion engulfed them. Sharing a video of the incident, the FCFRD confirmed that the firefighters were okay.
No firefighter or civilian injuries were reported.
This evening #FCFRD responded to a utility emergency in the 3800 blk of S George Mason Dr. An explosion occurred while crews were working. Thankfully, our firefighter is okay. FCFRD FFs put their lives on the line everyday to protect the lives & property of @fairfaxcounty. pic.twitter.com/Odp5tBGz9C
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) November 8, 2023
Photo via FCFRD/Twitter
Dark smoke was seen wafting over Route 7 near the Tysons Commerce Center office building (8219 Leesburg Pike) earlier this afternoon.
Alan Henney, a local crime and public safety watcher, reported hearing an “explosion [that] sounded like a transformer with fire” in the 8200 block of Leesburg Pike around 12:30 p.m. Photos and videos of the scene showed black smoke billowing up from near the office building, which is across the street from PetSmart.
While the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department didn’t receive any calls for a fire in the area, Dominion Energy spokesperson Peggy Fox confirmed that the utility had an equipment failure, sparking a fire on an electrical pole and causing a power outage that affected 1,572 customers.
“All but three customers were restored between 10 minutes and 39 minutes,” Fox told FFXnow. “Those remaining three will be out while repairs are made.”
Per Dominion Energy’s outage map, power is expected to be restored for those three customers around 4-7 p.m.
8200 block of Leesburg Pike in Tysons. Explosion sounded like a transformer with fire. @ffxfirerescue @ffxnow any more info? pic.twitter.com/lS3NBT6wDJ
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) December 14, 2023
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) December 14, 2023
Fairfax County officials are exploring ways to crack down on the illegal use of fireworks.
At a meeting Tuesday (Sept. 12), the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to consider expanding the enforcement powers of the Fairfax County Police Department related to fireworks.
Currently, FCPD officers don’t have jurisdiction to issue citations for individuals using fireworks illegally — a problem that Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, who introduced the proposal, says โstiflesโ the countyโs ability to prevent and end unlawful fireworks displays.
The county’s code currently designates the Office of the Fire Marshal as the only enforcement agency for issues related to fireworks, which can only be sold locally from June 1 to July 15 each year.
Around Independence Day, the office lacks bandwidth and staff to respond to calls for service and on-site safety protocol, according to Lusk.
The change was sparked by an increase in the number of fireworks-related incidents tackled by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, particularly around the Fourth of July.
According to the board matter, Deputy Fire Chief John Walser has said that this July 4 had “the most significant number of incidents of any [day] in the time I have been in the Fire Marshalโs Office.”
Between July 1 and 4, the police department received 60 calls of service related to fireworks displays in the Franconia District station alone. Just on July 4, county firefighters responded to 12 fires, “almost all of which were certainly related to fireworks,” Lusk said.
Staff will now work on drafting language for an ordinance that will be considered by the board before the end of the first quarter of 2024. A renewed interagency public awareness campaign on fireworks rules and safety is also planned.
Photo via FCFRD/Twitter
(Updated at 4:45 pm) Local police have arrested a man suspected of crashing a stolen car into a Lorton home earlier this morning at around 4:40 a.m.
Nico Anthony Doublet, 32, was arrested today (Thursday), after a community-led search.
The car drove into a home in the area of Cumbria Valley Drive and Derwent Valley Court. The suspect was wearing dark clothing and a surgical mask. He is described as a Black male in his 20s.
Police said the man was seen taking things from various cars in the neighborhood. Police attempted to stop the man in the act, but he sped away in the stolen car — which was taken from the neighborhood.
Officers followed him on foot, after which the man crashed into an electrical transformer near the house. The house and car then caught fire.
No injuries were reported, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
Officers are in the area of Cumbria Valley Dr. and Derwent Valley Ct. in Lorton, for a stolen car that drove into a house. The suspect is described as a B/M in his 20s, wearing dark clothing and a surgical mask. There are no injuries at this time. Call 911 w/ info. #FCPD pic.twitter.com/O0SYYL3Qom
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) September 7, 2023
