Penrose Basement Fire Quickly Extinguished By Area Firefighters

ARLINGTON, VA — Units from the Arlington County Fire Department and surrounding jurisdictions quickly extinguished a small basement fire Wednesday morning at a Penrose area residence, according to a department spokesman.

Around 9:17 a.m., the Emergency Communications center dispatched units for the report of a fire at a residence in the 400 block of S. Barton St. Fire crews from Arlington, Fairfax County, and Fort Myer responded to the dispatch.

"Crews arrived within 4 minutes to find a small fire in the basement," said Taylor Blunt, a public information officer with ACFD, in an email. "It took firefighters about 5 minutes to ensure the fire was extinguished before beginning to check other areas of the home for fire spread as a precaution."

Thanks to the presence of working smoke alarms, everyone had evacuated the building prior to the arrival of fire personnel, according to Blunt.

"There were no injuries to civilians or firefighters," he said. "The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Fire Marshal's Office and a damage estimate is still pending."

#Update The fire is now out and was contained to a small area of the residence. No injuries to civilians or firefighters. Units will be checking for additional fire spread before cleaning up.
— Arlington Fire & EMS (@ArlingtonVaFD) May 5, 2021