Blaze at Manassas City apartment building displaces 8

By Elisa Glushefski

Published: August 18, 2008

At least eight people were left homeless Monday morning after a two-alarm fire tore through the roof of a three-story apartment building in Manassas.

Fire and Rescue units were called to the fire at Brentwood Apartments, 8670 Devonshire Court, around 1:49 a.m. and a second alarm was called for additional help when the first responding crew found fire coming through the roof of the building, said Chief Fire Marshal Francis J. Teevan of the Manassas City Fire and Rescue Department.

Several residents were evacuated from the building as firefighters attacked the blaze, Teevan said.

The fire was under control within 10 to 20 minutes, Teevan said, and was contained to the one building.

No injuries were reported, but the woman whose apartment officials say is where the fire started was transported to Prince William Hospital for observation because of a pre-existing condition, said the Manassas fire department.

The cause of the blaze was a cigarette that the woman discarded in a plastic flowerpot on the balcony of her third level apartment, Teevan said.

Officials believe one or more cigarette butts smoldered in the pot filled with mulch for anywhere from three to four-and-a-half hours before the fire started.

The fire traveled up the back of the building, into the attic and through the roof, leaving two apartments destroyed and others damaged, Teevan said.

Initially, about 20 residents in eight of the units were displaced, but that number was reduced to between eight and 10 people when some residents were told they could return to their apartment by night, Teevan said.

The damage is estimated at approximately $500,000, Teevan said.

Units from Manassas, Manassas Park and Prince William County responded to the scene, the city fire and rescue department said.

Members of the Red Cross’ Prince William chapter responded a little more than an hour after the blaze was reported to assist the residents of the eight units who were originally displaced, providing shelter, food and clothing, the organization said.