George Mason Drive was closed and nearly a dozen condominium residents evacuated after workers struck a gas line near Barcroft Park this morning.
The gas line was struck shortly after 11 a.m. on S. George Mason Drive between Four Mile Run Drive and S. Columbus Street. The stretch of road was closed by police as a Washington Gas crew worked to clamp the gas line and as firefighters stood by with hoses ready should the gas ignite.
An apparent rear-end collision between a coupe and a pickup truck resulted in the coupe picking up the rear of the truck.
The crash happened this morning on Route 110, which runs from Rosslyn to the Pentagon. No injuries were reported.
Water Disinfectant Switch — With the annual pipe spring cleaning complete, the Washington Aqueduct will be switching back to chloramine as its water disinfectant after today. [ARLnow]
Car-B-Que on the Pike — A car caught fire on Columbia Pike between S. Oakland and Quincy streets Friday night. The road was closed while firefighters extinguished the blaze. [Twitter, Twitter]
Arlington Fire Chief James Bonzano is retiring in a few months, ARLnow.com has confirmed.
The county will formally announce Bonzano’s retirement this afternoon. A job posting, seeking his replacement, was recently published on the county careers website.
One person was sent to the hospital after a fire in a Virginia Square condominium Friday morning.
The fire was reported around 6:30 a.m. at the high-rise Hawthorn condo building, which is located at 820 N. Pollard Street, across Wilson Blvd from Gold’s Gym.
Fedorchaks on Why They Love Arlington — Mark and Stephen Fedorchak — the brothers behind Northside Social, Lyon Hall and Liberty Tavern — reveal in a Q&A why they built their lives and restaurant empire in Arlington, and whether they’ll stay. [Washingtonian]
Hula Girl Makes Best Restaurants List — Shirlington’s Hawaiian-influenced restaurant, Hula Girl, made the list of the 30 best restaurants in America, according to Yelp reviewers. The restaurant, whose owner competed on the cooking show “Chopped” last year, came in at #27. [The Daily Meal]
A large fire department response was dispatched to the school at 2600 N. Stuart Street. Students and staff have been evacuated, according to scanner traffic.
No fire or flames have been found and firefighters are investigating work on the roof as a possible cause, according to radio traffic. Police are blocking off roads around the school.
The Arlington County Board on Saturday unanimously passed a $1.276 billion balanced budget that includes a number of fee increases but no real estate tax rate hike.
The FY 2019 budget notably restores $70,000 in funding for Arlington Independent Media — County Manager Mark Schwartz proposed cutting about $90,000 in county funds for the community TV and radio broadcaster — after AIM collected more than 1,300 online petition signatures against the cut. The Board also boosted first responder pay, particularly starting pay which police and firefighter associations say is low and hurting recruitment, by $1.6 million above the manager’s recommendation, which already included a pay boost.
Arlington County firefighters extinguished a small mulch fire on the roof of an apartment building over the weekend.
The fire broke out around 4:15 p.m. Saturday on the roof of the new Latitude Apartments in Virginia Square, on the 3600 block of Fairfax Drive.
Washington Blvd is currently closed to traffic due to a crash at the intersection with N. Glebe Road, near Ballston.
Initial reports suggest two vehicles — a car and a pickup truck — were involved in a T-bone crash. The driver of the car needed to be extricated from the vehicle by firefighters.
Ambar in Clarendon opened for lunch today (Monday), a day after a rooftop air handler caught fire and prompted a large fire department response.
“Ambar Clarendon passed inspection this morning and was able to re-open for lunch service today, two days sooner than expected,” a spokeswoman tells ARLnow.com. In a statement, the restaurant’s owners said that “we appreciate everyone’s support, and are grateful that we were able to reopen quickly.”
The Sunday brunch scene at Ambar in Clarendon (2901 Wilson Blvd) was a bit too hot this afternoon.
A fire broke out at the popular restaurant today around 12:30 p.m. Initial reports suggest that a rooftop air handler caught fire; smoke and flames could be seen coming from the roof.
