The people in the 2900 block of North Lexington Street had been without power for about 24 hours late Sunday afternoon. Virginia Dominion Power crews were in the neighborhood dealing with downed lines and other issues. According to neighbors, when the workers turned the power back on the smoke started coming from both the top of a utility pole and a nearby home.
Firefighters from Arlington County and Fairfax County found fire in the basement and first floor of the house. A woman in her 80s and her daughter safely escaped the home.
A Dominion Virginia spokesperson had no information on the cause of the fire when contacted on Sunday.
Officially, the Arlington County Fire Department is waiting for the determination from a fire investigator on the cause of the fire. Firefighters on the scene confirmed neighbors reports that the fire occurred at the same time power was restored.
Neighbor Cliff Cohen said the power was on for about a minute and then shut down again when the house fire was discovered.
What was left of the home’s electric meter had charring all around it.
The house suffered substantial damage. No one was injured.
Also on STATter911 …
- Fairfax County, Virginia ladder hits power line in front of station. Starts fire. Causes blackout. One injured. – August 11, 2010
- UPDATE: Virginia ladder hits 230,000 volt line during safety check. 3 firefighters slightly hurt. 31,000 lost power. – August 12, 2010
- Pre-arrival video: Vehicles, boat, house, ammo & power lines burning in Boulder City, Nevada. Fire paparazzi out in force. – June 20, 2011
- Must see video: Neighbors help man rescue his wife from Spokane, Washington fire. Husband never makes it out. – August 23, 2011
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments
LOL … Reality TV terminology being used on the fire ground … they refer to conditions in the fire apartment “a hoarder situation” … This used to be called a “Collier’s Mansion” …
I know many FF’s dont know the term ” colliers mansion”. Its an FDNY term.
This is on scene firefighting video at its best. Great photography and great sound. The videographer deserves a by line here. Terrific work!
Crowbar,
The videographer is some jerk reporter who thinks he used to be a fireman and writes some useless blog. I wouldn’t give that guy any credit. But if I talk to him, I will pass on your kind words.
Statter
Dave,
It never even occurred to me that you shot the video. My compliment stands. Nice work.
Thank you Crowbar. They want us all to be one-man-bands, to shoot, edit and report. I end up doing it once or twice a week. I have always carried a camera for spot news. Sunday night I was working by myself doing some snow coverage in Arlington. I was in Cherrydale when the call came in and pulled onto Lee Highway just as Engine 103 went by. At least it was an easy Arlington address to find. I didn’t have my street finder with me.
Statter
From what I know Collier’s Mansion term did come from the FDNY. Its actually Collyer which was the brothers last names. They inherited a brownstone from their parents on 5th ave. and 128th street in Harlem. Which in the late 1800s, early 1900s was where most of weathier residents were living. The brothers Homer an Langley were very bright and both had degrees from Columbia Univerity despite thier instability. After their parents left and passed away the two brothers never paid any of the utility bills, which were eventually shut off. Burgulars continued to try to break into the house do to rumors of a large fortune inside the house, so most of the windows were boarded up. As they continued to hoard, the one brother set up traps in the house to injure the burgulars when they tried to break in. The other brother Homer became blind due to an eye hemmorage. IN 1947 a anonymous caller said that there was someone dead inside the mansion. The officer noticed a horrible smell coming from the brownstone but couldnt make entry due to the debris and traps. After multiple rescuers removing debris and crawling around in man made debris tunnels in the house the found the body of Homer. The ME said that the smell was not coming from homer since he had only been deceased a short time so the began to search for the other brother. over a week later and approximately over 84 tons of debris were removed from the residence when they found the other brother deceased in the house. Now thats what I know from the history of the term. Any of you buffs or guys who know history well might be able to add more details.