Prince William

Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Department reminds residents that one easy step can help save their lives and the lives of those around them. Twice a year change the batteries in their own smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, test the alarms and remind friends, family, neighbors and fellow community members to do the same.

Communities nationwide witness tragic home fire deaths each year, but, everyone can work together to help reduce the number of home fire fatalities. Approximately every three hours a home fire death occurs somewhere in the nation and 66 percent of those occur in homes without working smoke alarms. Non-working smoke alarms rob residents of the protective benefits home fire safety devices were designed to provide. The most commonly cited cause of non-working smoke alarms: worn or missing batteries.

The crash happened just before 5 p.m. in the Occoquan Oaks neighborhood in Prince William County, off Bacon Race Road.

The 53-year-old victim was taken with injuries that did not appear to be life threatening to the Prince William County Government Center where a helicopter was waiting to take him an area trauma center, said Dale City Volunteer Fire Department spokesman Steve Chappell.

The call went out a 5:42 p.m. Saturday, prompting volunteer fire crews to arrive at the scene within minutes of the blaze erupting, said OWL VFD spokeswoman Rebecca Barnes. Crews spotted smoke billowing from the side of the home, crews pulled an attack line into the, found the fire in the attic and doused it, said Barnes.

No one was injured in the fire, and fire crews found no working smoke detectors in the home. The occupants of the house were displaced, and the fire caused $30,000 in damage and investigators ruled the cause of the fire accidental.