ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 11, 1997 TAG: 9701130044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: STEVE VOGEL WASHINGTON POST
FAIRFAX COUNTY firefighters, accustomed to awaking and then rushing into burning buildings, had to rouse themselves to flee their own Friday.
When Fairfax County fire Capt. John Caussin awoke early Friday and found smoke pouring through his building, his first instinct was to try to get a fire truck out to fight the blaze. Unfortunately, it was the Burke fire station that was smoking, and one of the trucks inside was in flames.
With all of their firefighting gear stowed on the trucks and smoke billowing from the vehicle bay, Caussin and 10 other firefighters who had been sleeping in Fire Station 14 were helpless to fight the two-alarm blaze and had to evacuate the building.
A neighboring engine company extinguished the fire, but not before the fire destroyed a $300,000 heavy rescue squad truck and seriously damaged the volunteer fire department station. Heat heavily damaged two other fire trucks, and three other vehicles were slightly damaged. There were no injuries.
Fire officials were scrambling Friday to restore full service to the area. They have brought in a trailer to house the firefighters and reserve equipment from other stations, and they plan to erect a metal hut behind the station, officials said.
``We're prepared for this,'' Gaines said.
But repairing the station and restoring the equipment could take months, Gaines said. ``The county, the volunteers and the community need to come together and get this department back on its feet,'' he said.
All eleven firefighters - nine county-employed professionals and two volunteers - were asleep, as is normal procedure at the station after midnight, when the fire broke out. Mark Lucas, in the upstairs bunk room, smelled something burning shortly before 2 a.m.
Finding smoke, Lucas awakened Caussin, the shift commander, who found ``a very heavy white haze'' enveloping the parking bay. ``In the 30 seconds it took me to get dressed, it had gone from a white haze to billowing black smoke,'' Caussin said.
Engine Co. 27, based three miles away in West Springfield, responded to the fire. ``It's one call you think you'll never get,'' said Capt. Roger Souder, the West Springfield shift commander. The fire was extinguished in about 15 minutes.
Officials said they believe the fire originated in the destroyed heavy rescue squad truck but had not pinpointed a cause Friday. There were no initial indications that the fire was set deliberately, Gaines said.
The destroyed truck is owned by the volunteer fire company and insured through the county, officials said.
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