Just after 2:25 p.m., Monday, February 25th, 2019, units from Philomont, Aldie, Round Hill, Purcellville, Leesburg, South Riding and numerous command and safety officers were dispatched for a structure fire in the 20200 block of Greggsville Road in Philomont, VA. Coincidentally firefighters from the Philomont Fire Station noticed smoke in the area around the same time and had proactively went to investigate the source.
The first due unit from Philomont arrived on the scene in less than three minutes and found a two story, single family home heavily involved in fire that was quickly spreading to other portions of the home. Firefighters were able to identify that no occupants were reported to be in the structure at the time of the fire. This incident is located in a rural area with no fire hydrants available for water; as such, a Tanker Task Force was dispatched bringing additional units from Hamilton, Middleburg, and Aldie. Personnel utilized the water carried on their apparatus as well as a pond located across the street from the dispatched address to provide water for firefighting operations.
The extremely high winds contributed to the spread of the fire and firefighters were forced to perform an exterior, or defensive, fire attack, controlling the fire within 40 minutes. In addition to the house fire, there were several ground fires in the adjoining field and fence row that required crews to redirect resources periodically throughout the incident. Several fire and rescue units remained on the scene extinguishing hot spots while the Fire Marshal’s conduced their investigation. Two adults were displaced due to the fire and were able to stay locally with friends.
The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s Office has ruled the fire as undetermined at this time. The damages are estimated at $450,000. No injuries occurred to the occupants of the home or fire-rescue personnel.
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