A six-alarm fire that gutted stores in a Fairfax County, Virginia, shopping center caused an estimated $5.8 million in damages.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue said the fire that happened just before midnight Sunday at the Belle View Shopping Center was accidental in nature and started in the kitchen of one of the businesses. The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Firefighters arrived at the shopping center on the 1500 block of Belle View Boulevard in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County and saw heavy smoke.
They requested assistance, with six alarms eventually responding due to the nature, size and scope of the fire. These included firefighters from Arlington County and Fort Belvoir in Virginia, Prince George’s County in Maryland and from the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority Fire and Rescue Department.
Two stores that did not have fire sprinklers sustained heavy damage, fire officials said Tuesday. Several other stores had minor damage.
There were no reported civilian injuries but one firefighter sustained a minor injury. No one was in the building during the fire.
A passerby who saw smoke coming from a store front called the fire department.
