An estimated $8,851,409 in damages have been caused from a building fire at a Woodson complex on January 30.

The Woodson complex was the headquarters of FCPS’s Office of Facilities Management which is responsible for the management, repair, inspection, and replacement of facilities countywide. 

Firefighting units were dispatched in response to a reported building fire at an estimated 3:07 A.M. Upon arrival, additional units were requested and a battle to fight the fire within the building was made. However, after a failure to effectively combat the fire an outer defensive effort was made. It took an estimated two hours to bring the fire under control.  

Fortunately, the building was unoccupied at the time of the fire and no civilian or firefighter casualties were reported. Additionally, the fire was determined to be accidental, but the exact cause of the fire has been undetermined. 

The fire stoked additional fears as it was thought that nearby Woodson High School was the one to suffer the fire. A statement was made by the school advising that there were no damages to Woodson High School buildings, there were no fires within the school and that normal school operations were to resume. 

It’s unclear how this may affect FCPS operations, but considering no lives were lost it doesn’t seem it will impact FCPS too much. However, this added multi-million dollar disaster has been just one of the many problems FCPS is currently facing.

This disaster is an unfortunate occurrence, but FCPS is thankful to say that there were no further casualties apart from the millions lost to a fire.