Sterling House Fire Displaces 2 Residents

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — A Sterling Park house fire on Jan. 14 highlighted the need for working smoke alarms, according to a Loudoun County Fire & Rescue Department announcement. In response, Fire and Rescue crews will be canvassing the community to offer smoke alarm installations and deliver fire safety messages to residents after Sterling Park close call.

On Saturday, Jan. 14, at about 12:30 a.m., the Loudoun County Emergency Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call for a reported house fire in the 400 block of East Staunton Avenue in Sterling Park. The caller said they awoke to find smoke in their house and were advised to evacuate.

Fire and rescue units from Sterling Park, Kincora, Cascades, and Fairfax County, responded to the incident. Firefighters arrived on the scene and observed smoke showing from the front door and roof of a single family home. Additional resources were requested bringing supplemental units from Fairfax and Ashburn. Upon entry, firefighters found significant fire on the first and second floors, roof and basement. Crews made an aggressive interior attack, quickly bringing the fire under control. Fire crews remained on scene for an extended period of time performing overhaul to ensure the fire was completely extinguished.

The two adult occupants were fortunate to escape, as there were no working smoke alarms in the residence. Both residents were checked out at the scene and one was transported to Reston Hospital and admitted for smoke inhalation. Due to the extent of damages, the family is displaced and will be staying locally.

The Fire Marshal’s Office determined the fire to be accidental due to a malfunctioning furnace unit. The estimated dollar loss is approximately $235,000 for both the structure and its contents. There were no firefighter injuries reported during the incident.

This incident emphasizes one of Loudoun County Fire and Rescue’s most important fire safety messages; every home should have working smoke alarms. The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office recommends that every residence have working smoke alarms on each level of the home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas.

Loudoun County Fire and Rescue’s “Put a Finger on It” smoke alarm program offers free home safety inspections and smoke alarms to all Loudoun County residents. If your smoke alarms are broken or outdated we will replace them with battery powered alarms at no cost and install additional alarms as necessary. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call the department hotline 703-737-8093 or visit www.loudoun.gov/smokealarms.