FCFRD News Blog : Combustion Of Saw Dust Cause Of Springfield Furniture Store Fire

Press release from the FCFRD News Blog:

September 16, 2021

On Tuesday, September 14, at approximately 9:03 a.m., units from Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department and the City of Alexandria Fire Department were dispatched for a reported building fire in the 5500 block of General Washington Drive in the Springfield area of Fairfax County.

Units arrived on the scene of a two-story, commercial building with smoke evident in the show room of a furniture store. Crews quickly located the remnants of a fire in the warehouse section of the store. The fire sprinkler system extinguished the fire prior to fire department arrival. One firefighter sustained a minor injury. No civilian injuries were reported.

There were no occupants in the furniture store at the time of the fire. The fire was discovered by the chief building engineer, who was working in a second-floor suite, when he smelled an electrical odor. Upon further investigation, the engineer observed smoke through the windows of the furniture store and called 9-1-1. The building’s fire alarm system then activated and alerted occupants of other businesses.

Fire Investigators determined that the fire was accidental in nature and started in the warehouse section of the furniture store. The cause of the fire was the combustion of accumulated saw dust from a milling machine.

No one was displaced because of the fire. Red Cross assistance was not needed. Damages as a result of the fire were approximately $327,000.

This press release was produced by the FCFRD News Blog. The views expressed here are the author’s own.