A fire at a single-family home at 7127 Wayne Drive in the Broyhill Crest neighborhood in Annandale Thursday night displaced eight people, including three children. No one was injured.
“My family is okay. That is the important thing,” said Roldan Ugarde, who said his wife and their children, Scott, age 5, a kindergartner at Mason Crest Elementary School, Catherine, age 3, and Matthew, 16 months, all got out safely, along with the other tenants.
Fire investigators hadn’t officially identified the cause of the fire, but Ugarde said one of the occupants had left a candle burning on a kitchen counter. The fire started on the first floor and spread to the attic. Ugarde’s family was in the living room watching TV when they smelled smoke and a carbon monoxide alarm sounded.
Several neighbors who had gathered outside to watch the firefighters work on the property said they had seen flames and smoke. The fire did not spread to any other houses. About a dozen Fairfax County fire trucks were on the scene, including units from Annandale, Bailey’s Crossroads, Seven Corners, and Merrifield.
Ugarde, a construction worker originally from Argentina, said he had lived in the house on Wayne Drive for about five or six years. He was trying to contact the owner, but had left his phone inside. His family was planning to spend the night at his sister’s place in Arlington.