FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (ABC7) – Fairfax County firefighters did not have to go far to battle a blaze, which started at their own fire station.
“We don’t like to ever go to someone’s emergency and we don’t want to go to ours, but it happens,” said Capt. Mark Menton, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue.
The fire alarms inside the Edsall Road Station 26 on Carolina Place activated around 1 a.m. Sunday morning. Eleven firefighters and paramedics were on duty at the time. Menton said they all got out, called 911, then put their gear on and jumped into action.
“From the area that it occurred it was somewhere around the front of the cab,” Menton said.
Fire officials believe a firetruck parked in the station caught fire and spread to the attic area. The truck and the crew just got back from a call shortly before the fire. The flames ate through the roof of the building, melted equipment and torched the truck, which is now out of service.
Fifty-five firefighters helped bring the 2-alarm fire under control in about 40 minutes, but crews spent Sunday afternoon cleaning up and sifting through the damage.
“We’ll be operating here in the daytime. The station did sustain damage so at nighttime we won’t be able to secure it, so at nighttime the units will be dispersed throughout the county,” said Menton, who added there will be no change in service to the community.
Investigators are trying to figure out exactly how the firetruck caught fire.
