Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Monday blaze on Vale Spring Drive is still under investigation.
Seven Oakton residents have been displaced after a Monday fire ripped through their tudor-style home — a blaze the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is now calling a total loss. Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire. The department said Tuesday that when units responded to the fire at 2:05 p.m. on Vale Spring Drive, they "encountered heavy fire and smoke coming from the roof and attic." Read: Fire Destroys Vale Spring Drive Home The roof was engulfed with fire and "quickly extending throughout the home," officials said in a statement. They continued: "firefighters used several additional hose lines to protect the detached garage and to keep the fire from spreading to nearby homes and close-in power lines." Units …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Reader captures picture of blaze; full investigation still pending.
Monday's fire at a Vale Spring Drive home appears to have destroyed much of the structure. A picture of the blaze uploaded by reader John Morfit shows fire active in the white home as firefighters tried to knock it down. See picture at right. Fairfax fire and rescue crews responded to the fire in the 11400 block of the road around 2:05 p.m. Monday. FCFD spokesman Dan Schmidt said Monday afternoon the cause of the fire was unknown; the department's investigation would be completed sometime Tuesday, he said. Nobody was home at the time of the fire, Schmidt said. It's not clear how much damage the house sustained, but Morfit told Patch in the comments the house burned "completely down." Patch will update this story as more informatio becomes …
Monday, April 22, 2013
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue still extinguishing blaze at Oakton home.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue crews are on the scene Monday of a fire on Vale Spring Drive in Oakton. FCFD spokesman Dan Schmidt said crews were still putting out the blaze in the 11400 block of Vale Spring Drive. The department got a call about the fire — which appears to have started on the roof — around 2:05 p.m. Monday. Units from the Fox Mill Station responded to the incident. No residents were home at the time of the fire, Schmidt said. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time. Patch will update with more information as it becomes available. Stay on top of all Oakton news with our daily and breaking email news alerts.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department offers tips to help residents avoid a fire this season.
Fire departments nationwide respond to about 250 home structure fires each year that involve Christmas trees, according to the National Fire Protection Association. And Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department crews don't want county residents to be among those fires that break out this holiday season. Crews recently distributed tips about Christmas tree safety to holiday tree lot vendors in the form of Christmas safety tags. Live trees don't cause fires, but they can easily catch fire due to candles, electrical problems or other heat sources. Here are the tips provided by the department: To print out a copy of the safety tag, visit the Fairfax County Emergency Information Blog.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
William Garrett is responsible for about 350 personnel in the Fire and Rescue Department.
When William Garrett was a kid growing up in Gum Springs, he used to hang around the firefighters he admired at Franconia's Station No. 5. "I would tell them I would be a firefighter one day, and they'd say 'No, no, go to college,'" recalled Garrett, now 44. "I took their advice, but I still became a firefighter." Garrett has not only fulfilled that dream, but this summer he became deputy fire chief with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. His job as deputy chief, C-Shift, field operations, Operations Bureau, officially began July 28. It entails overseeing every aspect of the administrative side of the job and managing the response to larger fires. "I'm kind of the advocate for the 350 people who work under me to make sure their…
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Twenty-eight recruits from the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department graduated Friday.
The 28 men and women who graduated at Centreville High School Friday night passed their final exams while carrying 60 pounds of gear on their backs. They celebrated with a ceremony that was typical to graduation ceremonies in many ways, but these graduates were part of a select group who hadn't just finished training. They were starting a new way of life. They are the newest members of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. "Tonight we celebrate the occasion, but the road here wasn't always easy, nor always as smooth," said Jordan Legan, the valedictorian. "Two weeks before we started, one of our classmates lost his mom. I have classmates that stand here with me tonight that put in 10 hours a day of recruit school, and then go …
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Annual celebration of public safety officers who protect county residents
The suicidal woman jumped into the black, churning waters of the Potomac River in one of the most treacherous stretches near Great Falls about 1 am last July. Fairfax County Police officer Ali Sepehri, of the McLean District station, couldn't see her but he immediately followed her into the water. "She pushed me under the water once. I thought this was not good. I literally thought I was going to die." Fairfax County Police Officer Federick Yap, of the Reston District station, also jumped into the white water tumbling over very large rocks. "One mistake and you are gone," he said. Struggling together they pulled the woman and themselves to safety. After she was taken away, they returned to their stations, changed uniforms and continued …
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Incident caused power outage to more than 2,700.
A contractor for Dominion Virginia Power was burned on more than 50 percent of his body during a mishap while working at Hunter Mill Road and Hunter Station Road on Tuesday afternoon. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue officials said the man, whose name has not been released, was working in the bucket of a cherry-picker unit when it was reported to them at 4:49 p.m. he appeared to be passed out. The man — who was doing pro-active reliability work on circuits, Dominion officials said — suffered flash burns and was flown by helicopter to Washington Hospital Center's burn unit, said Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Batallion Chief Michael Schaff. Dominion spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson said the man was a contractor for the company through T & D …
Rebecca
10:22 pm on Tuesday, April 23, 2013
I am so sorry for this tragedy. Our thoughts & prayers are with the family. more ›