Basement Alarm Limits Fire Damage To Fox Mill Home

HERNDON, VA — An electrical malfunction caused a fire Wednesday afternoon that damaged a single-family home in the Fox Mill neighborhood, south of Reston and the town of Herndon, according to the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department. No one was inside the two-story house at the time of the fire, and no injuries were reported.

The fire displaced two adults from the home and caused about $25,000 in damage, the fire department said.

Firefighters responded at 3:52 p.m. Wednesday to the report of a fire in the home in the 2500 block of John Milton Drive. On arrival, they saw light smoke coming from the house and determined the source to be a small, extinguished blaze in the basement.

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When a smoke alarm in the basement went off, the alarm company alerted the home's owner, the fire department said. The owner returned home, saw the smoke and called 911.

Fire investigators determined the blaze was accidental and started in the basement, caused by an electrical malfunction involving the house's main electrical service panel, the fire department said.

Image: Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department