Basement Fire Reaches Roof, Damages Fort Hunt Home

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Faulty wiring for a humidifier caused a fire on Sunday morning that heavily damaged a Fort Hunt home. The blaze began in the basement and reached all the way to the attic of the three-story house, prompting Fairfax County firefighters to call in help from Fort Belvoir and the city of Alexandria.

Two adults who live in the house were displaced by the fire, but there were no reports of injuries, according to the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. Damage to the house is estimated at about $280,000.

Units were dispatched at 7:48 a.m. Sunday to the single-family house in the 1900 block of Mallinson Way, where they found smoke pouring from the front of the house. It 's a block north of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, near the northern shore of the Potomac River.

The firefighters determined that a fire in the basement "extended upward through pipe chases and void spaces to reach the top floor and attic," the fire department said in a statement. Flames penetrated the roof in several places.

Due to the house's size and the complexity of the fire, the firefighters at the scene requested a second alarm to summon help, the fire department said. They eventually brought the blaze under control.

Fire investigators determined that the fire was accidental and started in the house's basement. It was caused by "an electrical failure within the wiring pertaining to the whole house humidifier," the fire department said.

Images: The Sunday morning fire damaged a home in the 1900 block of Mallinson Way (FCFRD).