No injuries after fire on roof of River Towers high rise Sunday

Fire truck

A fire truck from the Penn Daw fire station is seen responding to Sunday’s fire at River Towers. (Daniel Perez photo)

Residents at a high-rise condominium had a scare Easter Sunday after a fire broke out on the roof of a building that is still being renovated following a partial collapse last fall. 

Fortunately nobody was injured and no residents were displaced by the two-alarm fire at River Towers in the Belle View area, according to a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue spokeswoman.

Firefighters from Fairfax County and Alexandria City responded to the initial call around noon Sunday. When firefighters arrived, smoke was seen on the roof and a second alarm was requested. 

The fire was confined to a roof deck area, and caused about $10,000 in damaged, according to the spokeswoman. No residents were displaced.

The fire was caused by improperly discarded smoking materials, according to a fire department news release. 

The building, located at 6631 Wakefield Drive, is the same one that suffered a partial collapse in October 2016. Residents from 32 units have been unable to return to their homes since the collapse, and repairs remain in progress. 

Repair work is also still in progress at the other two River Towers buildings, although no residents were required to leave those buildings. 

This post was updated April 18 to add the cause of the fire.