News

BREAKING: House Fire Near Columbia Pike

(Updated at 1:00 p.m.) Arlington County Fire Department personnel are on the scene of a house fire on the 1000 block of S. Rolfe Street.

The fire was reported at about 11:45 a.m., and when firefighters arrived on scene, fire could be seen from the outside of the house, according to the ACFD union on Twitter.

According to witnesses on scene, one person was in the house when the fire started. ACFD spokeswoman Lt. Sarah Marchegiani said the occupant was outside the house when fire crews arrived.

Witnesses said the fire started in the shed behind the house, but quickly spread, engulfing the rear of the house. The occupant said his garage was on fire when he called 911, Marchegiani said.

The house to the south also caught fire and suffered significant damage, while Marchegiani said the house to the north suffered minor exposure damage.

More than an hour after the fire caught, hot spots can still be seen catching, and ladder hoses are still working to extinguish all remaining flames.

Traffic on S. Rolfe Street is shut down from Columbia Pike past 11th Street S.

Smoke from the fire could be seen from miles around, and the smell of burning wood reached as far north as Ashton Heights.