Fire Displaces 70 at Springfield Gardens Apartments

An accidental, two-alarm electrical fire displaced more than 70 residents from the Springfield Garden Apartments on Saturday. At around 5:10 a.m., responding firefighters found heavy smoke and fire coming from the first floor of an apartment at 7236 Commerce Street.

"The apartment building had multiple non-working smoke alarms in the building," according to an Fairfax County Fire Department news release.

According to Virginia State Law: "Smoke detectors shall be installed in all buildings containing one or more dwelling units." 

"We haven't received the official report from the Fairfax County Fire Marshall," said Brian Gracken of Gates Hudson, which manages the property and dozens of other apartment complexes in the region.

Gracken would not comment on "unresearched" or "unproven" allegations of non-working smoke detectors. "Every quarter we conduct life, health and safety inspections at every one of the properties," Gracken said. 

The fire spread and it took 70 minutes for 60 firefighters to subdue the three-story blaze. One person was treated for non-life threatening injuries, and residents were moved to Garfield Elementary School with additional long term support provided by the Red Cross.

Eleven apartments were damaged by smoke, fire and water. Damage is estimated at $4.2 million. 

Fire investigators found that an electric motor in a refrigerator malfunctioned and caused the fire.