Joe and Sybil Caldwell waited years to build their dream home in McLean, but it took only a few minutes for it to go up in smoke. The five-level house the Caldwells built on West Langley Lane was engulfed in flames and smoke on Aug. 4, after a contractor accidentally started a fire in the basement, which quickly spread and created $2 million in damage.
The Caldwells, their young son and 4-month-old puppy, Venus, have been displaced and probably will not be able to return to their home for a year or more while restoration efforts are made.
"The Fire Marshal says the house is condemned and has to be completely gutted," said Joe Caldwell. The Caldwells have lived in the house for four years. The couple originally bought the land in 1997. They worked closely with a hand-picked architect and builder to design the home to their specifications, and in February 2000 they moved in.
As Caldwell surveyed the damage to his home just days after it had been ravaged, he remained optimistic. "My wife and my kid are safe. That’s the important thing. I’ve started over before. I’ve had nothing before. We can rebuild it. My family is okay. That’s the only thing that matters," said Joe Caldwell.
SYBIL CALDWELL was home when the fire broke out. "She was in the shower when she heard the smoke alarm go off. She grabbed a towel and went to look for our son," said Joe Caldwell.
"At first, I thought it was bacon. You know how the alarm always goes off when you cook up bacon," said Sybil Caldwell. The family’s nanny, Maria, had said earlier that she was going to fry up some bacon later that day. "I realized that smell was not bacon. Something was wrong," said Sybil Caldwell.
Wrapped only in a bath towel, she rushed to her son’s room only to find it empty. Sybil Caldwell then raced down the hall to the nanny’s room, hoping to find them together. Unable to locate either one of them, she looked out the glass window and was alarmed to see workers running frantically from the house. It was at that moment, said Sybil Caldwell, that she realized something was gravely wrong. She then noticed that the nanny’s car was not parked in the driveway and deduced the pair had gone out on an errand while she showered.
Sybil Caldwell was able to return to her bedroom and grab a robe before rushing out of the house amid the thick, choking smoke. Once she was standing in the yard, she realized that Venus was no where to be seen or heard. "We usually keep her in the cage, and I hadn’t heard her," said Sybil Caldwell. Workers on-site refused to let her re-enter the home.
Luckily, Venus was not in the house and is now staying comfortably at a hotel with the family.
"We don’t have a single article of clothing. Nothing can be saved because of the smoke," said Joe Caldwell. Also damaged in the fire was the family’s Range Rover, which was parked in the garage.
The house was almost completely finished when the fire broke out at 9:30 in the morning. "In connection with finishing our lower level, the plumber came over and was putting in a second water heater. He had to reconnect pipes, and to do that you use PVC glue. He opens up one and sets it on the control panel of the working hot water heater. When it kicked on, the pilot light went on and flames shot up. He picked [the glue] up but dropped it immediately. When he dropped it, it went under boxes of paper and some rattan chairs," said Joe Caldwell.
"EVERYTHING WENT UP right away. The real damage was from the paint. We had 10 cans of paint in there. When they caught, the smoke was incredible and went all through the house," said Joe Caldwell.
The smoke from the ignited paint caused extensive damage because as it snaked through the crevices of the home, it left a permanent residue that has discolored everything from the kitchen table to the upholstered furniture.
Daniel Schmidt, a public information officer with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, said, "There was a lot of smoke and water damage to the house. That really adds up in dollars. It’s uninhabitable now and needs some major restoration work."
Two firefighters were injured in the two-alarm blaze. One suffered smoke inhalation, and the other received a laceration. Both were transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital but have now been released. "It was a two-alarm, fire but we had a lot of stuff there, apparatus, that makes it almost a three-alarm," said Schmidt. More than 50 firefighters worked to extinguish the flames, which took almost 30 minutes to control
The most severe structural damage, outside the point of origin in the basement, was to the study on the first floor. The intensity of the flames caused the floor to cave in.
Joe Caldwell was especially distraught at the damage to personal effects in that room. He recently inherited two ceramic sculptures that his mother had purchased in Thailand in the 1950s. When the floor caved and the bookshelves sloped sideways, the family heirlooms were broken.
"We lost boxes of family photographs too. Three generations’ worth," said Caldwell.
Although many of their possessions cannot be replaced, the couple is focusing on what they can do and how that can help their young son deal with the displacement and cope with the situation.