Two firefighters sustained minor injuries when responding Saturday to a huge fire that ravaged an apartment complex in the Groveton section of Fairfax County, Virginia.
Videos on FirefighterNation: Fairfax County, Virginia Five-Alarm Fire Videos
According to a report from Fairfax County (VA) Fire & Rescue Department, at approximately, 9:40 a.m. on Saturday, February 8, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue responded for reports of a building fire in the 2800 block of Poag Street.
Firefighters arrived on scene within three minutes and reported an advanced fire from the top floor of a five-story building that was under construction.
The building sat in a block with numerous other buildings under construction. As is common with buildings under construction, there was no sprinkler system. This fact, combined with extremely windy weather conditions, made fighting the fire difficult. Crews worked diligently to extinguish the fire in the buildings under construction while also working to prevent it from spreading to nearby occupied residential buildings. The fire went to four alarms, drawing units from City of Alexandria Fire Department, Arlington County Fire Department, Prince George’s County Fire and Emergency Services Department, and Fort Belvoir Fire and Emergency Services.
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Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and were transported and evaluated at local hospitals. Both have been released. One civilian suffered minor injuries and was transported and evaluated at a local hospital.
The fire spread to five buildings and 14 townhouses that were under construction. All these properties are considered a total loss. The fire damaged and additional 14 townhouses, four single-family homes, five apartment buildings, a commercial building, and 28 vehicles.
Fire investigators determined that a worker at the construction site noticed a fire in a trash chute. The worker called 911 and attempted to extinguish the fire. The attempts were unsuccessful and the worker evacuated the property.
