Questions Remain in Bristow Blaze

Family Concerned by Washington Gas Response

A charred bib with Elmo's face on it is on the driveway. A melted toaster hangs out of what once was a kitchen wall. The stench of charred plastic lingers even a month after an early-morning fire burned a Bristow home to the ground.

The family still wonders what caused the blaze but may never get a clear answer.

"We basically sat there and watched our house burn down while Washington Gas fumbled around not knowing what to do," homeowner Larry Stroud said.

Prince William County firefighters contained the blaze soon after arriving on the scene early May 15. Deputy Chief Andrew Frizzle said that when firefighters saw that the ground in front of the house was on fire, they knew an underground gas line had ruptured and would continue to feed the blaze. The fire burned from just after 1 a.m. until after 5 a.m., when a Washington Gas work crew from Maryland turned off the gas to the block.

"To call it a total loss is probably an understatement," said Frizzle, who oversees two Nokesville stations.

Stroud, 32, who teaches history and government at Herndon High School, said he fell into a deep sleep after a late night of feeding his infant son, only to awake an hour later for no clear reason. He noticed it was 1:15.

"I am just lucky that whatever got me up and out of bed did at that time," Stroud said.

Looking outside his second-story bedroom window, he said, he saw an "orange glow" and realized there was a fire on the porch roof. After waking up his wife, Jennifer, 29, and three sons -- Austin, 4; Jack, 2; and 3-month-old Carson -- he and his family escaped out the back door of their house on Cromarty Court. As he left, he called 911 but didn't talk to an operator.

Stroud said that as he rushed his family out, he heard the windows shattering and the smoke alarms in the house just starting to sound. Once his family was safe, Stroud went back into the burning house to make sure their au pair, Celine Sardinha, 24, had gotten out of her basement room. As he descended the stairs, he heard his wife screaming that Sardinha was safe.

On his way out the second time, Stroud grabbed his keys and wallet. He said he put his glasses, keys and wallet in the same place every night in case he had to grab them in an emergency just as this.

Outside the house, his wife screamed for the cats. Stroud was able to keep the door open long enough for one, Max, to escape. Jennifer Stroud, a nurse manager, combed the neighborhood for three days after the fire looking for Max, finding him in a nearby field. The family's other two cats died in the fire.

While waiting for the fire department, Larry Stroud began saving what he could from outside the house. With the keys he had grabbed, he was able to move the family's two cars away from the flames.