Christmas Day Fire Displaces 6 People In Great Falls

GREAT FALLS, VA — Six people were displaced after a Christmas Day fire at a Great Falls home, according to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue.

Firefighters responded to the blaze around 3:44 p.m. in the 1100 block of Trotting Horse Lane. Units found a fire on the rear deck and extinguished it. No one was injured.

A resident had discovered the fire while walking his dog. Upon finding the fire on the deck, he tried to put it out with an extinguisher and garden hose. All other residents evacuated before help arrived.

The displaced residents declined Red Cross assistance. Damages were estimated to be $30,000, according to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue.

Fire investigators determined improperly discarded smoking materials caused the fire. The fire department released the following tips as a reminder of how to safely discard smoking materials:

• Do not throw away cigarette butts in potted planting soil. The soil, when it gets too dry, can become highly flammable.
• Never flick cigarettes into mulch or shrubbery. Dispose of them in a suitable ashtray or bucket with sand. Ensure designated outside smoking areas have an appropriate fireproof container, ashtray or bucket.
• Completely douse butts and ashes with water before throwing them away, as they can smolder and cause a fire.
• Never smoke in bed. To prevent a deadly cigarette fire, you must be alert. You won’t be if you are sleepy, have been drinking, or have taken medicine or other drugs.
• Provide large, deep ashtrays with a center support for smokers. Check furniture for any dropped ashes before going to bed. Empty ashes into a fireproof container with water and sand.
• Keep smoking materials away from anything that can burn such as mattresses, bedding, upholstered furniture and draperies.
• Never smoke in a home where oxygen is being used.
• If you smoke, choose fire-safe cigarettes, which are less likely to cause fires.
• Keep matches and lighters up high, out of children’s sight and reach.