Fort Belvoir FES (E463, E466, T463) and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue units responded to a townhouse fire, Wednesday, September 22, 2010, at approximately 8:30 a.m. in the Lorton area of Fairfax County. The townhouse is located at 9639 Hagel Court.
Firefighters arrived on scene with heavy fire showing from the front door and all windows of the two-story townhouse. The townhouse was fully involved with fire. The Incident Commander struck a second alarm bringing over 60 firefighters to the incident. Several calls to 911 indicated there were several children trapped inside the end unit townhouse. At the scene, firefighters found three children and an adult outside the structure who had been lowered from the second floor by an adult inside the structure. The rescued individuals, an adult male, six and eight year-old boys, and a two month-old girl were taken to the Washington Hospital Burn Center. Their injuries are not life-threatening.
Firefighters conducted an offensive attack on the fire of the all-brick structure and did a primary search of both floors. During the search, three victims were discovered. One adult and two children perished in the fire. It took firefighters approximately 60 minutes to bring the fire under control. Approximately 18 occupants from the five unit townhouse structure have been displaced. Red Cross is assisting all the displaced occupants. Four firefighters received non-life threatening injuries.
Names of the deceased will be released pending notification of next of kin and determination of cause of death by the Medical Examiner. The townhouse is a complete loss. There was minor smoke and water damage to adjacent townhomes and loss of electricity.
