Four days after Fairfax County police announced charges, more details are emerging about who allegedly set fire to a Virginia Task Force 1 training facility in Lorton, causing $1 million to $1.3 million in damage to search-and-rescue equipment. Three adults and three teenagers face burglary and trespassing charges, with police saying additional charges are expected as the investigation continues.
The fire broke out around 5:20 p.m. on June 27 at a storage facility on Furnace Road in Lorton belonging to Virginia Task Force 1, one of the nation’s federally sponsored urban search-and-rescue teams — the kind of unit that deploys to collapsed buildings, earthquakes, and other disasters both in the U.S. and overseas. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue crews arrived to find the facility fully engulfed, and while no one was injured, the blaze destroyed heavy equipment the team relies on for actual rescue missions, not just training. Police have called the fire arson.
Who’s been charged, and how did investigators identify them?
Fairfax County police charged 26-year-old Ricky Torres and 18-year-olds Brice Bartley and Aidan Smith, along with three 17-year-olds whose names haven’t been released because they’re juveniles. All six face burglary and trespassing charges, though police have said more charges — potentially including arson itself — are still expected as the case develops. Detectives from the Fairfax County Police Department worked the case alongside the county fire marshal’s office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and investigators in the department’s Real Time Crime Center reviewed surveillance footage showing several people entering the facility before the fire started and leaving the area shortly after.
Sources: FOX 5 DC · WTOP · FFXnow · Fairfax County Police Department
