Three adults and three minors are facing charges in connection with a fire at a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue facility in Lorton in June.
The blaze started at the fire department’s Urban Search and Rescue facility in Lorton at around 5:20 p.m. on June 27. No one was injured, but there was about $1 million to $1.3 million in damages to the building and equipment contained inside, the Fairfax County Police Department said Thursday.
Neither the police nor the fire department has specified exactly what caused the fire.
At the time of the fire, the county’s urban rescue team was deployed to Venezuela to help with recovery efforts following the June 24 earthquakes there, the fire department said at the time.
Surveillance footage showed people entering the facility prior to the fire and fleeing it once the blaze broke out, and police were also able to use tips solicited from the public and Flock camera license plate data to find a vehicle connected to the incident.
On Sept. 3, the police department, the fire department’s Office of the Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives carried out search and arrest warrants at three separate residences.
Suspects Ricky Torres, 26, and Brice Bartley, 18, of Fairfax, and Aidan Smith, 18, of Clifton were arrested following the execution of the warrants. Mr. Torres and Mr. Smith paid $1,000 bond, while Mr. Bartley was released under his own recognizance, according to FFXNow.
Another three suspects, all of them 17-year-olds, were also involved, though the police did not publicly identify them. All six suspects are charged with burglary and trespassing, and police said that they expect additional charges to be filed as the investigation continues.
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