The engine compartment of a van caught fire this morning in front of Penrose Square on Columbia Pike.
The fire broke out around 10 a.m., near the entrance to the Starbucks.
Firefighters responded and quickly extinguished the flames. No injuries were reported.
Photo courtesy Bethany
Car on Fire Spotted Driving Down Street — Yesterday evening, an Arlington County Fire Department unit radioed dispatch to report that they had just seen a car with flames visible from the engine compartment drive past them on Carlin Springs Road, its driver oblivious to the fire. The fire engine was able to turn around, catch up with the driver near the intersection of Wilson and Glebe, pull the car over and extinguish the flames. [Twitter, Twitter]
Wrong Man on Iwo Jima Memorial? — The Marine Corps is investigating claims that a Navy corpsman identified as one of the men who raised the flag in a moment depicted by Arlington’s Iwo Jima Memorial was not, in fact, in the original photo. [USA Today, Associated Press, New York Times]
USS Arlington Returns Home — The sailors and Marines aboard the USS Arlington have returned to Norfolk after a seven-month overseas deployment assisting in the fight against ISIS. [Marine Corps Times, WAVY]
Former Top Federal IT Official Dies — Greg Ambrose, who had served in senior information technology posts at the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State and Veterans Affairs, died early Tuesday morning. Ambrose took his own life at a Rosslyn condominium after posting on Facebook about a woman who had left him for another man. [FCW, Twitter]
Arlington, Virginia Tech Join ‘Smart City’ Network — “Virginia Tech and Arlington County have been accepted into the MetroLab Network of 35 city/county-university partnerships that works to bring data, analytics and innovation to local government.” [Arlington County]
Flickr pool photo by Joseph Gruber
(Updated at 11:15 a.m.) A car with D.C. license plates caught fire in the parking lot of the Safeway at 3713 Lee Highway earlier today.
The fire, which was first reported around 10:15 a.m. this morning, was extinguished shortly after firefighters arrived. Nobody was injured during the blaze, said a firefighter on the scene. It was not immediately clear how the fire started.
Firefighters blocked off a portion of the parking lot, causing a small lineup of cars. The smell of burned rubber and charred vehicle components hung in the air as a small crowd gathered to watch firefighters work. A burned car seat and a broken vacuum were seen on the ground behind the car’s open trunk.
Emergency crews left the scene around 10:30 this morning.
The remnants of a recent car fire were still sitting on a busy road near Shirlington around lunchtime Monday.
A BMW 3-series sedan, with its front end burned out, is parked along 31st Street, a road that connects Shirlington and the Fairlington neighborhood.
The acrid stench of burned vehicle components was still fresh in the air for residents walking their dogs near past the car. There were no fire department vehicles or tow trucks in the vicinity when ARLnow.com walked by the wreck.
No word yet on when the vehicle will be removed.
A car fire blocked the intersection of Old Dominion Drive and Lorcom Lane, near the Lee Heights Shops, Friday night.
The fire was reported around 8:45 p.m. A silver BMW M5 sports sedan caught fire near the intersection. What was a vehicle fire call was upgraded to a hazmat call after the car’s fuel tank ruptured.
The fire was extinguished and firefighters used absorbent material to help contain the fuel spill.
It was at least the second fully-involved vehicle fire in Arlington on Friday, after a car burst into flames in the Barcroft neighborhood earlier that morning.
Photos courtesy Andrew Pang/DC Metro Fire Photographers
No one was injured after a car burst into flames in the Barcroft neighborhood this morning.
The incident happened around 8 a.m., at the intersection of S. Buchanan Street and 9th Street S.
Police say they responded to a report of a smoldering car at the intersection. The smoldering quickly turned into flames, as captured in a photo taken by a police officer.
Arlington firefighters responded to extinguish the blaze. A county fire marshal also responded, to investigate the cause of the fire.
Photo courtesy ACPD
N. Lexington Street was closed for 45 minutes today after a dump truck caught on fire, causing it to leak hydraulic fluid.
The fire ignited in the truck’s engine compartment around noon, near the intersection of N. Lexington Street and Little Falls Road.
The dump truck leaked about three to five gallons of fluid, said Battalion Chief Matt Herbert, of the Arlington County Fire Department. The fire was started by a mechanical issue, he said.
Hazmat crews had already been to the scene as of 1:15 p.m. They put absorbent on the fluid, which prevented it from going into the storm drains, Herbert said. Most of the fluid was on the right side of the road against the edge.
“The absorbent picks it [hydraulic fluid] up and the company cleans it up and takes it to an authorized dump,” he said.
A hazmat crew and other members of the fire department, including the fire marshal, were still on scene waiting for the contractor to come pick up the absorbent. N. Lexington Street is open, but one lane remains blocked off.
The hydraulic fluid and absorbent are not dangerous to residents Herbert said.
Update at 2:20 p.m. — The scene is being cleared and nearby roads are being reopened.
Firefighters are on the scene of downed wires and a car fire near the intersection of Lorcom Lane and Lee Highway in Waverly Hills.
A high voltage line came down on top of six cars around noon, according to Arlington County Fire Department spokeswoman Lt. Sarah Marchegiani. At least one of the cars caught fire and smoke from the blaze could be seen from as far away as Ballston.
Video (below) show the smoke and fire coming from what appears to be a small parking lot next to an apartment building.
It’s unclear if anyone was inside the cars when the power lines came down, but no injuries have been reported. No word yet on what caused the wires to come down.
Firefighters were unable to douse the flames with water due to the live wires, Marchegiani said. A Department of Defense foam tanker was dispatched to the scene in order to extinguish the fire, according to scanner traffic.
A Dominion Power crew has arrived on the scene and will be working to shut off power to the lines.
Northbound Lorcom Lane is currently closed between Old Dominion Drive and Lee Highway due to the fire department activity. Police are planning on closing two lanes of Old Dominion at Lorcom, according to scanner traffic.
@ARLnowDOTcom live power line across 6 cars. One totally destroyed B4 power cut. pic.twitter.com/K89Y2TYmYl
— Chief 288 (@Chief288) July 21, 2015
@ARLnowDOTcom pic.twitter.com/wKeKkEZhXm
— Sophie Pyle (@sophiepyle) July 21, 2015
#ACFD putting out multiple car fire off Old Dominion. Fire briefly + dangerously spreads under their feet #outlitnews pic.twitter.com/FQKyS6Hg1j
— Lucien Zeigler (@lucienzeigler) July 21, 2015
Photo (top) courtesy Sophie Pyle
Arlington County firefighters battled blazes on Columbia Pike and in the Long Branch Creek neighborhood over the weekend.
On Saturday around 2:30 p.m. firefighters extinguished a car fire inside a parking garage on the 26oo block of S. Veitch Street, in Long Branch Creek. No one was hurt.
On Sunday evening firefighters battled flames inside a kitchen hood at the El Rancho Peruvian Chicken restaurant on the 3600 block of Columbia Pike. The fire was extinguished and the county fire marshal stayed on scene to investigate the incident, according to the fire department’s Twitter account.
This was the second fire at the chicken restaurant in about three years.
Photos courtesy @jbester and @Travis_Lane10
Honoring War Dead at ANC — At the annual Memorial Day service in Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, President Obama said the country should “never stop trying to fully repay” Americans who have died in battle. It was the first Memorial Day in 14 years without a major American ground war — the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan ended in December. Over the weekend, Boy Scouts and other volunteers placed some 88,000 roses on the graves at the cemetery. [Associated Press, Stars and Stripes]
Post Endorses Cristol, Fallon — The Washington Post’s Editorial Board has endorsed Katie Cristol and Peter Fallon in the upcoming Democratic Arlington County Board primary. The Post lauded Cristol’s “drive and intelligence” and Fallon’s “command of policy.” The political action committee that represents Arlington public school teachers, meanwhile, has endorsed Fallon and Christian Dorsey. [Washington Post, InsideNova]
Bus Fire on I-395 — A tour bus caught fire on I-395 Saturday evening, near the 14th Street Bridge and the Pentagon. No injuries were reported. [Instagram, NBC Washington]
County’s Bond Rating Reaffirmed — The three major credit rating agencies have reaffirmed Arlington’s triple-A bond rating, the highest rating possible. There are only 39 counties, including Arlington, that have a perfect triple-triple-A rating. “Retaining the County’s AAA ratings is critical to ensuring the absolute lowest interest rates on our General Obligation bonds,” County Manager Barbara Donnellan said in a press release. [Arlington County]
Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf
Mercedes Catches Fire After Lightning Strike — An Arlington man’s beloved Mercedes 430 CLK convertible was “burned to a crisp” Monday night after a lightning strike. The lightning apparently struck a power pole, which then fell over. A sparking power line ignited the Mercedes. [Washington Post]
Arlington Honors 16 Trees — The Arlington County Board recognized 16 “Notable Trees” around the county at its meeting yesterday afternoon. During the 10-minute ceremony, details about each tree were read individually as the tree’s owner came up to the front of the room to collect a plaque or certificate. Of the 16 trees, 14 are located in north Arlington and only 2 are located in south Arlington. [Arlington County]
Shirlington Apartment Building Loses Power — Io Piazza, an upscale apartment building in Shirlington, had been without power for more than 24 hours as of last night. An underground transformer that serves the building failed during Monday’s thunderstorms. [Patch]
Year-Round Gift Wrapping at Pentagon City Mall — Starting May 8, the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City will be offering year-round complimentary gift wrapping service. The service is available for purchases of $250 or more at luxury stores. Previously, the service was only offered during certain holidays.
Fmr. Treasurer Endorses Fallon — Frank O’Leary, who retired as Arlington County Treasurer last year, has endorsed Peter Fallon for County Board. “Peter Fallon is a mature, thoughtful, fiscally responsible candidate with an amazing grasp of the issues that confront our county,” O’Leary said in a statement. “I enthusiastically support his approach to improving Arlington.” [InsideNova]
Cristol Published Buzzfeed Listicle — County Board candidate Katie Cristol has published a Buzzfeed listicle, complete with animated GIFs, highlighting “7 Reasons to Vote in Arlington Virginia.” Among the reasons are “housing is getting less affordable,” “over 50% of Arlington is under 35,” “women need a strong voice in Arlington” and “it’s fun.” [Buzzfeed]
