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Firefighters Battle Attic Fires in Fairlington

by ARLnow.com | July 9, 2012 at 3:45 pm | 2,781 views | 21 Comments

Firefighters battled a pair of attic fires in the Fairlington neighborhood of Arlington early this morning.

We hear that lightning from last night’s storms most likely sparked the fires, though as of this afternoon an Arlington County Fire Department spokesman was unable to confirm any details about the cause.

ACFD spokesman Capt. Gregg Karl did reveal, however, that there was “significant damage to both attic areas.”

Photo courtesy @VolunteerHappy

South Side Chris

ADRESSES MAN! ADRESSES!
Arlington cat

Which neighborhood; arbor, north, commons, green, muse?
martimeff

any updates yet where this was? I’m in the meadows and I heard two loud claps in the middle of the night that sounded like they were literally in the parking lot.
Kerrt Early

I’m also in Fairlington Meadows. I think two units in Court 11 were hit – blue tarps are covering the roofs. Look for more information on Fairlington’s Facebook page. I’m on the other side of the pool from Court 11, but I swear the strikes were much louder then when lightning hit a tree in front of my townhouse last month!
Kerry

Clarification: Fairlington Meadows, Court 11, on S. Utah Street
fairgrrl

First time in about 15 years there were attic fires caused by lightning. Used to happen every Summer.
Matt

The pool(s) are safe and sound. Ahhh.
ZippyDog

I live right across the street (in the Arbor), and I saw two lightning bolts that were very close – an instantaneous thunder clap.

It was quite a response; when I ventured outside to see what was happening, I counted at least 12 fire apparatuses.
- MPK
  
  What time was it? We moved the sleeping kids to the basement during the midnight round of thunder, but then woke up again at some point to much louder booms.
  - Hokie
    
    It was around 1130 or thereabouts.
South Side Chris

ARLNOW, little more detail next time please. That picture you showed looks exactly like my home and I was on vacation. Fortunately I was wearing brown trousers at the time I read the article.

That said, had it been on North Side I would have had no issue with it so yes, I am being a complete princess about it.
Meadows resident?

I am confused; did this happen in the Arbor or in the Mews?
- ZippyDog
  
  Mews
  - MPK
    
    Mews? Another poster said Meadows. Fairlington is so confusing!
  - Meadows resident
    
    From reading this blog and reading the yahoo message board, it appears it was on Wakefield past 36th St, towards 34th St, on the left, in the Mews. Can anyone confirm this statement is correct.
    - SAM
      
      One of the strikes was in the Meadows Court 11- on Utah Street between 34th and 35th.
MPK

Wow! I hope everyone was okay. Scary!

Does anyone know what time this occurred?

FYI — our bldg in Fairlington Green has been hit twice (causing attic damage but thankfully no fire), and the ground next to it hit at least once (causing major electrical damage but again, thankfully no fire). The association just installed a lighning rod which will *hopefully* help the problem.
- Arbor, 14 years and counting
  
  We had a “lightning rod” in the Arbor. The board called him “Steve.”
VolunteerHappy

I took the (blurry) picture. It’s looking at Fairlington ARBOR, 34th & S. Wakefield. On the fire dispatch station, we heard there was also a fire at 34th and S. Utah. It was about 2:30am.
- mpk
  
  thank you for taking the time to post and share with us!
14 years in the Arbor and counting

I wonder how “Baloney” and “Cluster F. Management” will handle this problem.

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