Fire Caused By Unattended Candle Displaces Herndon Family

HERNDON, VA — Fire devastated Katie Vargas' childhood home in the Franklin Farm neighborhood on Friday, leaving her mother Virginia Henriquez and sister Victoria Henriquez temporarily displaced.

The fire started when Victoria Hernriquez, who is a 13-year-old student at Rachel Carson Middle School, lit a candle and feel asleep.

"When she had woken up, that's when she saw the room in flames," said Vargas, a U.S. Army veteran living in Georgia.

Fairfax County Fire Inspectors determined the cause of the fire was an unattended candle and classified the fire as accidental. They also estimated the damage to the split-level, single-family home on Farthingale Drive to be approximately $20,000.

Virginia Henriquez, who works as a nurse in Sterling, already had a lot on her plate before Friday's fire, according to her daughter.

"She's been helping out with administering vaccines," Vargas said. "Especially when the pandemic was at its peak, she was helping out with COVID patients and everything."

Many of the family's personal items were destroyed and all of their clothing was damaged by smoke and debris. An insurance inspector estimated it would take six months to replace everything. In the meantime, Virginia Henriquez and her daughter are living in a hotel.

"The room that it mainly impacted was my mother and my sister and all their stuff," Vargas said. "I can only imagine starting all over again."

With the support of her cousins, Vargas recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to help her mother and sister.

"We wanted to help out my mom and help her get back on her feet and get new stuff," Vargas said.

Initially, Vargas was unsure what the fundraising goal should be, so she originally set it at $10,000, although her family members may need more. By 3 p.m., on Tuesday, the campaign had already raised $1,221.

"A lot of people really underestimate a candle," Vargas said. "That's what happens a lot with house fires. It happens due to human error, just like leaving an unattended candle. We have to raise more fire awareness. It could happen to anybody. We didn't expect this to happen."

GoFundMe is a content partner with Patch.

Related:

Unattended Candle Causes $20K In Damage To Franklin Farm Home