A house on Bull Run Mountain burned to the ground today.
A fire fully engulfed a single-family home at 16315 16314 Poplar Hill Road near Haymarket about 2:30 p.m. Fire and rescue crews rushed to the scene and established a tanker shuttle to ferry water to the site of the fire.
Crews traveled about four miles away to collect water at a site on Route 15 for the rural water operation, according to Capt. Brian Ferguson, with Prince William County Department of Fire and Rescue.
Two adults who live inside home avoided injury and were able to escape. The Red Cross will provide assistance to the displaced adults, said Ferguson.
Ammunition stored in the home could be heard exploding while the remains of the house smoldered.
“Me and my friends were in our garage when the fire started, and we heard loud pops and bangs, and then someone said ‘that’s ammunition,” said CJ Petrillo, 13, who lives with his mother in a house one street over from the fire scene.
The fire victims had several animals that lived in the home with them, said Ferguson. Neighbors told Potomac Local a dog escaped the fire, but nine cats perished in the blaze.
In addition to shuttling water to extinguish the fire, firefighters also battled breezy and dry conditions Thursday on the mountain. Fire crews remained on the scene after 6 p.m. pouring water on the smoldering remains of the house.
Fire crews contained the blaze to a single alarm. Firefighters from Loudoun County were called to help crews in Prince William.
