Commercial Fire on 23rd St. South Causes Over $1.8 Million in Damages.
Published on December 06, 2021
Arlington, Va. - Shortly after 10pm on Saturday December 4th, units were dispatched for a reported fire in a commercial building in the 500 block of 23rd St S. Units quickly arrived on scene and began working to extinguish the fire. Crews began operating in extremely challenging conditions with thick smoke causing zero visibility inside the structure, as well as obscuring views for crews operating on the exterior. A second alarm was requested to bringing nearly 30 fire apparatus and 100 firefighters to the scene.
As interior conditions deteriorated rapidly, crews were forced to evacuate the building and begin using ladder trucks to flow large volumes of water from an elevated position on the exterior. With the bulk of the fire extinguished crews were able to re-enter the structure to knock down any remaining fire. Just before midnight the fire was deemed extinguished, and crews began the long process of checking for fire extension and overhaul operations.
Fire Marshals remained on scene to conduct a cause and origin investigation. The preliminary findings from their investigation list the fire cause as undetermined, and cite damages as being over $1.8 million dollars.