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August 23,
2004
- At about 1545 hrs today, Prince William County
dispatched a house fire on Crossmans Creek Way in the
Gainesville area of the County. Wagon 501, Tower 501,
and Assistant Chief 501 responded on the first alarm.
Engine 505 arrived on the scene with two single family
houses under construction fully involved with extension
to a third house. When Wagon 501 made it to the scene,
their crew pulled a two and a half inch line and put the
blitz gun in use.
Natural gas lines at two of the houses were ruptured
and burned freely until the gas company arrived to
shut off the gas service. Two houses were
completely destroyed and a third was heavily
damaged. The fire started accidentally from a
welder's sparks according to Capt. Tim Taylor,
spokesman for PWCDFRS. The Manassas Journal
Messenger noted that this was the second time this
type of close
house construction resulted in multiple dwellings
being consumed by fire. A Jan. 3 fire on Trenton
Chapel Way in Gainesville destroyed two homes and
damaged a third as flames spread rapidly from one to
the other. The homes, which were also built close
together, caught after a small fire in the garage of
one spread to the adjacent wall of another, climbed
up its side and burned the second house from the top
down. The flames on the roof then spread to another
house but firefighters were able to contain the
blaze and save that structure. Units cleared several
hours later. |
