Blaze rips through unoccupied building

Firefighters took nearly an hour Tuesday to bring an apartment fire under control at a retirement community in Gainesville.

The blaze broke out about 6 a.m. at an $8 million condominium building at 7055 Heritage Hunt Drive, part of the sprawling Heritage Hunt senior living complex.

No one was injured in the fire, but investigators said the flames caused at least $300,000 of property damage inside the unoccupied four-story building.

The fire broke out behind the wall of a third-floor condominium, somewhere between the kitchen and the attic, a Prince William County Fire and Rescue official stated in an e-mail.

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

While residential sprinklers had not been installed in the building yet, county fire officials spent most of the summer touting the importance of having them installed in new homes.

A July fire that started in the kitchen of a Woodbridge apartment was quickly doused by a residential sprinkler system.

The fire was caused by a pot of oil that was left sitting on the stove.

There were no injuries in that fire and the sprinklers kept the fire damage to a minimum, a Prince William Fire and Rescue official said during a tour of the home.

Earlier that month, the Virginia Board of Housing and Community Development voted against requiring builders to install residential sprinklers in newly built homes.

Some homebuilders groups in the state, including the Home Builders Association of Virginia, said mandatory installation of sprinkler systems will drive housing costs up.

The state housing board could review the decision again in January.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.