UPDATE: Ten Displaced After Two-Alarm Fire in South Riding

Update: Wednesday, March 14, 3 p.m.

Donations to help the families can be made here. As of now, a little over $8,000 has been raised towards the goal of $10,000.  

If you know of other ways to help, please tell us in the comments.

Original Post:

Late afternoon on Saturday, March 10, fire and rescue units from Dulles South, Arcola, Sterling, Aldie, Fairfax County, and MWAA responded to a two-alarm house fire at 43341 Nicklaus Lane in South Riding. Four homes and two cars sustained damage, but there were no life-threatening injuries.

According to the Loudoun County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management, the fire was caused by a container of oil that was overheated on the stove and left in the garage. The oil heated items in the garage, which resulted in a smoldering fire. The flames were fueled with oxygen after the garage door was opened, which caused the fire to spread rapidly.

The damage was estimated to be $1,000,000, and due to quick action by firefighters, only two homes sustained significant damage.

None of the 22 occupants were injured, but four firefighters were minorly injured.  Three of them were transported to a local emergency department and were released later that night.

Twelve occupants from the neighboring homes that sustained minor damage were able to return to their homes after the electricity was restored. Ten occupants from the homes with significant damange are staying with friends and family.

The American Red Cross was on site to provide assistance.

Editor's Note: Information on how to help the displaced families is not available yet. When received, this article will be updated.