Fire still under investigation

By Elisa Glushefski

Published: July 17, 2008

As residents assessed the thousands of dollars in damage to their houses as a result of Wednesday's two-alarm fire, investigators with the Fire Marshal's Office continued to sift through debris looking for what caused the massive blaze.

The fire at 13405 Keating Drive in Dale City was reported around 4:35 p.m. Wednesday and units arrived four minutes later to find the house fully engulfed in flames, officials said.

The fire leveled the house—a two-story single-family home with a basement—within roughly 15 minutes, said a battalion chief at the scene Wednesday.

Investigators began working early Thursday morning, lifting ash from the fire one shovel at a time into wheelbarrows looking for any clues as to how and where the fire started.

With little more than ashes, wood beams and scrap material remaining of the house, the investigation at the scene could stretch at least another two days, said Battalion Chief Joseph Robertson of Prince William Fire and Rescue.

"There's less stuff to look at, but the story is still there," Robertson said Thursday afternoon.

The house where the fire started was built in 1973 and was undergoing remodeling that nearly quadrupled it in size, according to fire officials and Prince William County land records.

The houses on either side were also built the same year and were 1,176 square feet, according to records.

The house at 13405 Keating Drive was recorded as 4,436 square feet and was given an assessed value of $395,600 in January, online property assessment records show.

Robertson would not comment on whether the fire appears suspicious or if anyone was living in the house at the time.

However, he pointed to the stacks of construction material at the site, noting that exposed wood inside the house could have been a factor in the apparent quick burning of the house.

Five residents from 13403 Keating Drive and six residents from 13407 Keating Drive were displaced from their homes.

A firefighter sustained a minor eye injury while fighting the fire, fire officials said. He was treated at the scene and taken to the hospital as a precaution, and has since been released. It was reported in Thursday's coverage of the fire that no one was injured.

A dog and rabbit were rescued from the 13407 Keating Drive, but several other pets inside the house did not survive.

The fire also damaged a house directly across the street, causing the siding on the front of the house to melt.

Staff writer Elisa Glushefski can be reached at 703-878-8062.