Firefighters have mostly extinguished a fire that spread to several businesses in Annandale, Virginia, on Sunday. A small gas fire continues to burn, authorities say.
A passerby walked to a nearby fire station and told firefighters they saw smoke coming from a building in the 7200 block of Columbia Pike at about 7:15 a.m. At the scene, crews found smoke coming from inside a building, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue said.
The fire was at a building with four businesses under one roof, according to Fairfax County Assistant Fire Chief Dan Shaw.
Firefighters called for additional support after the fire spread to the three adjacent businesses.
"Our personnel operated inside tried to knock down the fire for about 20 minutes. Then we had a dramatic change in the fire conditions. The warden pulled our personnel out while we maintained a defensive attack on the building,” Shaw said.
Washington Gas is at the scene to turn off a street-level gas main so that firefighters can extinguish the remaining small fire, Shaw said.
“The best that we can tell right now is that we have a gas leak, that is leading to some of this fire that still is continuing," Shaw said.
No one was injured in the fire.
Part of the roof collapsed during the fire, Shaw said. The impacted businesses appear to be restaurants and a salon.
Smoke was visible for miles in the surrounding area during the fire.
Columbia Pike is closed in both directions between Backlick Road and John Marr Drive, Fairfax County Fire said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
This is a developing story. Stay with News4 for more updates.
