Fairfax County house fire displaces family days before Christmas

A Fairfax County family is crediting smoke detectors and having an exit plan for saving their lives.

A fire raced through the home on Castle Hill Road home around 4:30 a.m. Saturday. Sound asleep inside was a couple and four of their six children.

The fire in the South Run area was so intense it damaged neighboring homes.

The mom, Jenny, asked News4 to protect her identity for privacy reasons, but she shared the harrowing details of the family’s escape.

“We heard the smoke alarm go off and my husband jumped out of bed,” she said.

Jenny says her husband went to see why the smoke alarm sounded.

“He opened the door, ran downstairs and realized the screen porch was glowing orange, so he began yelling, ‘Get out of the house, get out of the house,’” she said.

Remarkably, first out the front door was the two youngest children.

“Our 14 year old dragged the 9-year-old out of the house, saved her life,” Jenny said. “She knew exactly what to do. She knew not to leave her sister.”

The girls took refuge across the street. Jenny was next and said already, it was hard to breathe.

“It was like you’re trying to breathe, but all you are getting is thickness, and you just can’t breathe and it chokes you,” she said.

Next, her 16-year-old daughter, who somehow also managed to rescue her pet bunny. A 21-year-old brother also escaped.

Jenny’s husband started to head out but then went back upstairs, unable to see the youngest girls huddling safely across the street.

“The smoke was so thick. He couldn’t see, he stumbled to their bed, felt around, knew they weren’t there and realized they were outside likely,” she said.

Unable to see as he fled, Jenny says her husband fell going downstairs, spraining his leg. The family reunited at a neighbor’s.

“I just repeated over and over, ‘Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus thank you Jesus,’” she said. “That’s all I could say to my children.”

Jenny says her husband was taken to Medstar and treated for smoke inhalation and his leg injury. He is now on crutches.

She credits the smoke alarms and the fact that her family had talked about a fire exit plan for saving them.

“The firefighters asked us to please remind everybody, check your fire alarms. Check them often put more up if need be. Make a plan,” Jenny said.

Five other homes were also damaged by the intense flames, with the home right behind Jenny’s with the worst damage.

Jenny’s husband is active duty Air National Guard, and the GoFundMe another military neighbor set up grew so fast, it’s already been closed. Gifts cards also poured in.

As for all the family’s Christmas gifts, they’re gone with the rest of the house. But Jenny says her children are focused on helping and comforting one another. The family is already being provided housing at Ft. Belvoir.

Jenny says when the kids took their gift cards to Target, her 14-year-old used part of hers to buy gifts for her siblings and parents that she thought would make them happy.

“The gratitude is just pouring out of my heart. I just can’t even explain it,” she said. “The speed with which our family has been cared for.”