Update: House Fire Displaces Four, No Injuries Reported
Emergency crews continue to fight fire, which began inside the garage.
A family of four has been displaced from their home at 16605 Ferriers Court in Leesburg after it caught fire at about 5:30 p.m. Monday night.
Karla Irvine, along with two of her children, were home when the fire began. All three made it out safely and no injuries were reported. Her husband was said to be on his way home from work when the fire broke out. A third child is away at college.
Neighbor Nicole Lutz said she was playing outside with her children when she heard what sounded like firecrackers coming from the home.
“I saw black smoke coming from the garage and I was like, ‘I don’t think that’s right.’ So we ran from the end of the cul-de-sac up here and as soon as I got to the edge of their driveway I saw flames coming out of the back corner of the garage by the chimney, “ Lutz said.
“I ran and banged on the door and at the same time the son had opened the garage door and said, ‘Fire, fire.’ So I ran over here and called 9-1-1, they called 9-1-1, and it didn’t take long for it to spread.”
Randell Shank, deputy of operations for Loudoun County Fire & Rescue, said personnel from Leesburg, Ashburn, Lucketts and Hamilton arrived to find black smoke and fire coming from the garage.
Shank said the home was a lightweight construction, which caused it to burn very quickly. The fire started inside the garage and made it’s way out of the house and into the attic.
“There are a number of hot spots, which make it difficult to get the fire taken care of and under control, Shank said. Fire and smoke could still be seen coming out of the home an hour after it began.
“It’s a rural water area. There’s no hydrants out here and so that always presents a bit of a problem for us,” Shank said. He stood near two large containers of water that were used to battle the blaze. A fire suppressing foam was also used.
At 6:38 p.m. fire teams were still battling smoke and flames. Shank said it was unclear what started the fire.
“The Loudoun County Fire Marshal’s office is on the scene,” Shank said. “They will be doing an extensive investigation which could take a while.”
Sean
8:28 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
"Safety Personnel"? How about "Firemen" or even "Firefighters" if you will? Firefighters respond to ALL hazards, but FIREFIGHTERS put out FIRES. The PC police (or are they PC safety personnel as well?) do a great job stomping on our profession.
James
10:01 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Hey Sean,
How about we stay on topic here? A family has lost their home along with so many of their precious memories and all you can think to contribute is some whining about firefighters not getting enough credit? Fighting fires is a thankless job as is so many Public Safety positions. Citizens perform these duties out of civic responsibility. If you want credit, go to a bank! If you really want to be a FIREFIGHTER, then just do your job. Our thoughts should be with the family during this difficult time.
V. Nilsov
11:43 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
That term doesn't even appear in the article (unless it was edited). And yes, other safety personnel do show up at fires - paramedics from outside the fire company, police to direct traffic, heck, if the mom hadn't been home, DSS might have even put in an appearance.
Leah M. Kosin
11:34 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The article was not created to be a shout out. It was written to inform our readers that a fire had taken place in the local area.
David
3:36 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Community Friends and Neighbors,
Last night was a horrible evening in our community, due to the house fire which has effected the lives our neighbors John and Carla Irvine. The Raspberry falls community is asking for help from the atlarge Leesburg community in helping this family.
As they are temporarily displaced, we thought one of the best ways we could offer our support as a community is by donating gift cards to help them try to piece together and replace what personal items they have lost in the fire. Visa cards, Mastercards, American Express etc. If you are interested in making a donation, please mail it to 41890 Cranberry lane, Leesburg, VA. I will make sure that John and Carla receive all of the donations. We are also in the process, thanks to Cindy Klebonis of arranging a charitable golf event to help off set the cost of rebuilding their lives. Stay tuned for more information regarding this event.
P.S. Thanks in advance to all that can help.
Leah M. Kosin
3:45 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
David: feel free to keep us updated on the golf event and other fundraising efforts.
Nick
11:46 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
I think what Sean was talking about was that as "firefighters" we are losing our identities. If there is a shooting you would say Police responded. But I can assure you there is an ambulance and probably an Engine or Truck there as well. Are we going to say safety personnel responded to a shotting too? Hopefully not, because it will sound pretty silly.
Perception is everything. If you believed that it was the right statement you would have stood by your statement and left the "safety personnel" up. It's not a big deal.
As far as the focus on the family. The focus was there I assure you. Efforts were made to gewt salvagable photos, purses and other effects out of the house while it was still on fire. So I'm pretty sure our focus was appropriately directed.
Leah M. Kosin
11:59 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
The personnel reference was made just below the headline and then again when the deputy was quoted. I went ahead changed ONLY the title so it now reads "emergency crews". Hopefully this will calm everyone down. No other changes have been made.
RR
3:57 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
When did "firefighter" become a bad word? "Safety personnel" do not fight fire. "emergency crews" do not fight fire. Firefighters fight fire. It is sad that these people lost their home but please inform your readers properly.
John
7:27 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
John
Yeah sorry Leah but RR is right, all emergency crews don't put out fire either. Whats so wrong with using the proper terminology when referring to who and what our public safety personnel do for us?
Brad
10:41 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
It's ashame that our typists (used to be News reporter) who try to report the news don't make an effort or have a lack of effort on their part to report properly about Firefighters, Police and Medics. If you lump us all together they can get away with a PC Term of their choosing instead of identifying us correctly because they use less space in their article! Typists get paid to report and not be correct and so I will have my family in Leesburg discontinue buying their paper until the typists and their paper correcters chose to identify us Firefighters properly with the respect we deserve. After all, the community loves to hear about their Firefighters, Police Officers and Medics, not their Public Safety crews!
Only you can "Prevent First Responder"!
FTM-PTB
Marie Cochran
11:08 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Wow! It's really sad how immature and disrespectful everyone is being on here. How do you think the family would feel to know that those of you who were on the scene of the fire are looking for all of this attention? Why not do your jobs rather than criticizing someone else for doing theirs? A REAL hero wouldn't look for attention like you are.
David
11:33 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
In my option it was a total team effort on the "Emergency crews" part. The police kept the traffic lanes clear so the water and fire trucks could do their thing, the Medics were there incase something happened. The Aux had a tent set up to help with stuff, the chief directed it all and the firefigher battled the blaze and kept the water coming. I only saw it for 20 min or so, but there was alot of personal involved in this one.
Thanks to all that give there time and effort to contain and put out these disasters.
Now see my other post and contribute if you can.
David
11:37 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
In my option it was a total team effort on the "Emergency crews" part. The police kept the traffic lanes clear so the water and fire trucks could do their thing, the Medics were there incase something happened. The Aux had a tent set up to help with stuff, the chief directed it all and the firefighers battled the blaze and kept the water coming. I am sure there were other units that I missed. I only saw it for 20 min or so, but there was alot of personal involved in this one.
Thanks to all that give there time and effort to contain and put out these disasters.
Now see my other post and contribute if you can.
Steve Elson
9:39 pm on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
While the team effort of the "emergency crews" is needed and appreciated, the firefighters put out the fire . "Emergency crews continue to fight fire" from the headline is misleading, and shows the general lack of a clue most "news" reporters have today. Firefighters extinguish fires, perform basic and advanced emergency medical care, and provide other services that save lives and property.
Lumping firefighters into "Emergency crews" takes away from the proud tradition and personal commitment required of the fire service and denigrates them to some type of service worker.
Another example of the PC crowd controlling language (either intentionally or because they do not know any better) to water down the meaning of words. Even George Carlin,gets (got) it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeGKuTZtkpg
OnlyGodCanJudgeMe
9:44 pm on Thursday, October 27, 2011
WOW! What does it matter that you weren't called firefighters??? I mean in all honesty who the hell cares what you were called? The important part of this is LIVES WERE SAVED! Be proud of that and stop crying about all this!! @Sean - I would have to disagree with you and say perhaps making a BIG deal over "proper recognition" is what takes away from your proud tradition and personal commitment. So all of you whining on here, put your big boy pants on and do your jobs!! If it's recognition you want perhaps you need to find a new profession.