Fire raged through the lower level of a Woodbridge home Christmas Eve, forcing firefighters to pull two women to safety and douse the flames.
Fire and rescue crews were called to the house in the 1500 block of Frances Drive, just after 2 p.m. Wednesday.
They worked feverishly to break glass windows on the bottom and top floors of the home, allowing the black smoke to billow out.
Both of the women pulled from the home were not seriously injured, said Capt. Jack McCloud of the Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lake Ridge Fire Department.
The fire started in a utility room on the lower floor of the house and was quickly
contained, McCloud said.
After the fire was out, smoke continued to billow from the home, causing significant damage throughout the house, said McCloud.
Windows and doorways were visibly framed in black on all sides of the small house.
Neighbors said two families shared the house, one on the top floor and one on the bottom. Both have small children who live in the house -- one of the children as young as 18 months, they said.
"This is devastating, it's horrifying, I mean they just had a new baby," said Brenda Lacey, who has lived on the block more about 28 years.
Onlookers crowded the street as firefighters charged hoses and turned them on the flames.
Two teenagers who live next door to the house initially thought no one was home when the blaze broke out.
When they learned two women were inside, one said the blaze was a scary thing because the fire happened so close to their home.
Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.
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