Townhouse Blaze Displaces 41 Residents

Several dozen residents of a townhouse community have been displaced by a fire that broke out Sunday afternoon in a building in their development, in the Falls Church area, according to the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department.

There were no injuries in the blaze, though a Fairfax County police officer was taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation. The fire began when "discarded smoking material" ignited a mulch bed outside a townhouse building, the fire department said. Damage to the property was estimated at nearly $700,000.

"As a result of the fire, 41 occupants have been displaced and are receiving assistance from the Red Cross," the fire department announced Monday.

Firefighters responded at about 3:55 p.m. Sunday to reports of multiple townhouses on fire in the 2800 block of Pine Spring Road. The location is south of Lee Highway (Route 29) inside the Beltway and west of the city of Falls Church (see map).

Upon arrival, firefighters saw smoke and fire coming from several units within a three-story townhouse building. "Dry and windy conditions made the fire difficult to bring under control and contributed to its spread," the fire department said.

Three alarms were sounded, bringing more firefighters to the scene, including personnel from Arlington County and Fairfax City. The building had smoke alarms, but they didn't activate because the fire started on the building's exterior, the fire department said. The cause of the blaze was determined to be accidental.