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Apartment fire near Dulles Airport caused by discarded fireplace ashes

An apartment fire in Centreville, Virginia, on Saturday evening was caused by discarded fireplace ashes. The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department responded to the Reserve at Regency apartment complex in the 14400 block of Newton Patent Court in Centreville shortly after 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

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Three people who were inside the apartment at the time of the fire, on a third-floor balcony, all escaped unharmed before the fire department’s arrival. Firefighters battled the wind-driven two-alarm fire with assistance from the Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s Fire and Rescue. About 28 occupants of the building were displaced because of the fire, 14 have accepted assistance from the Red Cross. The cause of the fire was determined to be improperly discarded fireplace ashes, an accident, according to fire investigators. Damages are estimated at approximately $370,100. [google_map latitude=”38.8201176″ longitude=”-77.4829179″ zoom=”13″ height=”300px” location_label=”14400 Newton Patent Ct.” dynamic_map=”false”]

Va. health dept. improves nursing home inspection backlog, reforms sanction criteria for facilities

Stories of neglect in care or unsanitary living situations have plagued several of Virginia’s nursing home facilities in recent years and data backs up a lapse in oversight by state agencies.  With reform efforts underway, the Virginia Department of Health officials said they aim to adopt sanction criteria by the end of the year to rein in bad actors and get troubled facilities back on track.  As of July, 58% of Virginia’s nursing homes were overdue for inspections and 68 of Virginia’s 289 nursing homes were found to have serious deficiencies, according to ProPublica. Several of the state’s flagged facilities with numerous deficiencies also had high staffing turnover rates.  The issue has been salient among various healthcare spaces, including VDH. 
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