Firefighter injured in Woodbridge blaze
Firefighters battle a blaze at a home under renovation on Colchester Drive in Woodbridge on Monday night. One firefighter was injured. {Photo courtesy of Jim McAllister}
Prince William fire investigators are trying to determine what caused a Monday night blaze in Woodbridge that left a firefighter injured.
Firefighters were called to a vacant house undergoing renovation at 1515 Colchester Drive about 10 p.m., after a neighbor said they saw fire there.
When they arrived crews spotted flames on the back side of the house and in the attic, said Jim McAllister, a spokesman with the Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Department.
As firefighters were battling flames at the top of the two-story house, one firefighter slipped and fell into the home’s basement.
McAllister said he was checking the ceiling for more flames in heavy smoke conditions.
“Imagine you are walking on the second floor of your house and looking up at the ceiling while you are walking. A banister in the house was missing and the firefighter wasn’t aware of it,” McAllister said.
The firefighter was not seriously injured. He was treated at the scene and released.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
This is the second Woodbridge fire in an empty house in about two weeks.
Last week an abandoned house in the 2000 block of Horner Road went up in flames. Neighbors said they saw many people squatting, or living illegally, in the house in the past months.
Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.
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That house looked like a dump and needed to be burned down. There are at least a 1000 more on this side of the county that needs to be torn/burnt down just like that one…
It’s a shame to endanger the lives of firefighters when this type of event could be avoided. Did the people who said they saw squatters living there call neighborhood services?
Visit the county web page (pwcgov.org)and look under Neighborhoods for the page below as well as many other helpful pages.
Neighborhood Stewardship
Citizen Help with Vacant Homes
With the unprecedented number of foreclosed homes and homes for sale in Prince William County, one way to prevent neighborhood deterioration is for citizens to work alongside property owners and the County.
The first step is to report unmowed grass.
If grass goes unmowed, other problems may result. See the page titled “Vacant Homes” in the Neighborhoods section of the PWC Web site for a description of what may happen when tall grass and litter “advertise” that a home is empty.
* If you live in a community with a homeowners association (HOA), contact the HOA Board or community manager. HOAs usually have a stricter requirement on the height of grass. Allow the HOA to use its abilities to enforce the governing documents.
* If you live in a community that does not have a HOA, consider talking to the owner. The owner can be determined by using the County Mapper. If the owner is a bank somewhere outside our area, it may be difficult to find a person who will listen to your request that the grass be mowed. In this case, report the tall grass, once it reaches the height of 12 inches, to Neighborhood Services at 703-792-7018.
* If the home is for sale, you may be able to contact the Realtor. A house with unmowed grass does not “show” well to prospective buyers, so the Realtor may appreciate that you’re alerting him/her to the unsightly condition. Again, if you get no response and the grass grows to 12 inches tall, call Neighborhood Services at 703-792-7018.
Secondly, report any conditions that may impact the health, safety or welfare of the residents in the neighborhood.
NOTE! If neighbors see any crime taking place, call the PWC Police at either 9-1-1 for emergencies or 703-792-6500 for non-emergencies!
There are things that county governments are allowed to do by state law, and there are things that the state does not allow counties to do. Counties in Virginia are not allowed by the state to enact or enforce ordinances that are more about the appearance of a home. When some conditions that are ugly are also a safety hazard, then the County may be able to take action. These conditions are very specific: tall grass and weeds, doors open or windows broken, swimming pools not completely enclosed, graffiti, large portions of the house exterior left unpainted, significant sections of siding falling off, or other serious signs of neglect.
Vacant home boarded windows
Other conditions, such as lights left on, are not something that are a health or safety hazard, but when combined with other indicators are a warning sign. The County wants to know about such conditions, even though a correction of that condition cannot be forced.
A checklist will help citizens determine if conditions should be reported. The Neighborhood “Eyes and Ears Checklist for Vacant Houses can be printed and faxed to Neighborhood Services (facsimile number is 703-792-5969), or it can be completed and used as a guideline when speaking to Neighborhood Services staff (telephone number is 703-792-7018).
If you have questions, please contact the Neighborhood Coordinator at 703-792-7018 or nsd@pwcgov.org.
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