Winds, Collapsed Ceilings Hampered Firefighters

Update Noon Wednesday
The fire that ripped through a Woodbridge town home community is estimated to have done $500,000 in damage to four homes.

The four homes were engulfed in flames about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Potomac Club neighborhood off Neabsco Mills Road, near Wegman’s grocery store.

Each of the homes and their contents were valued at $250,000, fire officials say.

The complex itself is worth a total of $1 million.

Update 9:15 a.m. Wednesday
Intense heat, high winds and falling ceilings made it difficult Tuesday for firefighters to battle a blaze at a Woodbridge town home, officials say.

The fire broke out in the 2200 block of Mersey Side Drive, off Neabsco Mills Road near Wegmans grocery store, at 6:16 p.m.

As fire crews arrived, heavy smoke could be seen billowing from a row of town homes, and when they checked the rear of those homes one of them was completely involved in flames, said Occoquan- Woodbridge-Lorton VFD spokeswoman Rebecca Barnes.

Crews quickly called for a second alarm to bring in more support to battle the blaze, and then learned that everyone had made it out of the home safely.

“Crews extinguished the fire on the exterior of the townhouses then attempted to make another interior attack. Wind driven flames were spreading faster than the water streams could extinguish them, once again forcing firefighters to exit the townhouses. Defensive or exterior operations were established using ladder trucks and high volume nozzles mounted to the top of the fire engines,” Barnes stated in a press release.

A volunteer firefighter with Dale City Volunteer Fire Department was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and was later released.

“The concern for him after he became injured was high, but also as high was the expectation for him to be released that night,” said DCVFD spokesman Steve Chappell.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation and the cause of the blaze has not been released.

Original Post 8:30 p.m.
Woodbridge, Va. –– A major fire in Woodbridge neighborhood sent a volunteer firefighter to the hospital and town home in shambles.

The fire broke out about 6:30 p.m. on Merseyside Drive just off Neabsco Mills Way, near the Wegmans grocery store and Potomac Town Center.

The unidentified firefighter who was injured was taken to a local hospital after being injured after the fire call went out, and is now said to be in stable condition.

There were no reports of other injuries.

The blaze is still under investigation, said OWL VFD spokeswoman Rebecca Barnes.

We’ll have more on this as it develops.