Cellar Fire Kills Seven In Residence
Official photograph Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Services
Seven of the eight persons sleeping in a house in Fairfax County, Va., lost their lives in a fire that started in a basement recreation room and spread to the attic.
The lone survivor, a 36-year-old man, escaped from the house at 2014 Great Falls St. in McLean, ran to a neighbor’s house and phoned the Fairfax County Fire/Police Communications Center at 5:11 a.m. last April 12. Because of the number of persons he said were trapped in the 98 X 34-foot, brick veneer, single-family dwelling, a beefed-up assignment was sent—three engines, one ladder truck, two fire department mobile intensive care units, a fire department ambulance, a lighting unit and Battalion Chief John C. Akre. At 5:15 a.m., Squad 26 was dispatched.
The first companies arriving at 5:16 saw extensive fire in the basement blowing out windows on the west end of the house. The first and second floors had heavy smoke and high heat.
The basement fire burned through the floor joists of the first floor master bedroom and living room and caused a partial floor collapse.
Two lines advanced
Engine 1 advanced a 1 3/4-inch line into the first floor and Engine 76 did the same with a 1 1/2-inch line. Both companies faced a large body of fire in the living room because of the partial floor collapse. Fire also controlled the stairway to the second floor.
Realizing that he had a serious rescue problem, Akre ordered a special alarm at 5:21 for two more engine companies to get additional manpower.
Truck 1 raised ladders to second-story windows and broke them out to get ventilation. Members of Truck 1 then entered the second floor through windows and began a primary search.
As a result of an aggressive interior attack and rapid ventilation of upper floors, fire fighters gained control of the stairway and search became the primary objective on the first floor as well as the second floor.
Two victims, a 10-year-old boy and a woman were found in the kitchen and three other bodies, a man, a woman and a 14-year-old boy, were removed from the second floor.
The survivor had told Akre that the other two occupants, a man and a woman, were sleeping in the basement. Fire was still burning fiercely there. A 2 1/2-inch line was used to knock down the fire in the basement, and search teams located the last two victims.
Attack attic fire
After the bodies were removed from the house, crews attempted to make an inside attack on the fire in the attic. When they were unable to get into the attic, a successful attack was made from the outside.
Three of the victims and the survivor lived in the house and the other victims were overnight guests. They had all held a party in the recreation room that lasted until about 3 o’clock, two hours before the fire was reported.
Fairfax County fire marshals determined that the fire started in the recreation room. They reported that the fire originated in a fabric-covered chair with foam rubber padding that was next to a chair of similar construction. The marshals said that careless use of smoking materials caused the fire, which spread to the adjacent chair and then to the other furnishings of the room. The flames spread to the front portion of the room, where the man and woman were sleeping. From there, it went up the stairs to the first floor.
