Spontaneous potting soil combustion causes over $1.6M in damages to Ashburn home

ASHBURN, Va. ( DC News Now ) — Officials have ruled a two-alarm house fire that broke out Saturday night in Ashburn an accident.

Just before 10 p.m. on Sept. 14, multiple people reported that a 2-story home in the 23400 block of Virginia Rose Place in the Little River District had caught on fire.

When crews arrived, the back of the house and roof were already engulfed in flames.

Firefighters began aggressively working on the back and both sides of the house. Multiple streams of water were used and firefighters were able to knock the bulk of the fire out in around 20 minutes.

Firefighters from Arcola, Moorefield, Dulles South, Kirkpatrick Farms, Ashburn and Leesburg, as well as units from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and Fairfax County, responded. Many command officers also assisted the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue (LCFR).

It took about an hour to extinguish the fire.

Two neighboring homes were damaged but it was still habitable, according to LCFR.

The fire was ruled an accident due to potting soil under the deck spontaneously combusting. It caused just under $1,697,000 in damages.

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