Kitchen Fire Damages Woodbridge Apartment Complex

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An accidental cooking fire Monday night in the kitchen of a Woodbridge apartment caused $40,000 in damage to the housing complex, according to the Prince William County Fire & Rescue Department.

No injuries were reported in the blaze. At about 9:30 p.m., county fire and rescue units were dispatched to a fire alarm sounding in an apartment complex in the 15100 block of Brickwood Drive, according to a department statement.

As firefighters entered the complex, they saw that a sprinkler system had activated and found smoke in one unit. In the housing unit where the fire originated, the sprinklers had extinguished a fire that started on the kitchen stove, and smoke remained throughout the unit with minor fire damage, the statement said.

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The fire did not spread into the rest of the apartment complex, the fire department said. But four additional units in the complex received water damage from the sprinkler system, and a county building official posted these units as unsafe.

The Red Cross was called to assist 15 residents, of which four required housing assistance. According to the county Fire Marshal’s Office, preliminary damages are estimated at $40,000.

Cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires and injuries. The Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue would like to remind residents to:

• Stay in the kitchen while you are cooking.
  
• Use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
• Turn off the stove, if you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time.
  
• Keep anything that can catch fire away from your stove, i.e. oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains.
  
• Never throw water on a grease fire! If possible, cover the pot/pan with a lid to smother the fire and turn off the stovetop. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled.
• For oven fires, turn off the heat and keep the door closed.
  
• For microwave fires, leave the door closed, turn the oven off and unplug it.
  
• If the fire does not go out, get outside and call 911.