The home of former Virginia Governor Chuck Robb caught fire Tuesday night, and first responders transported two unidentified occupants to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to WTOP.
The blaze at the property located in the 600 block of Chain Bridge Road in Fairfax County was first reported to authorities at roughly 11:30 PM Tuesday. WTOP reports the fire eventually spread from the first floor to the roof and that the flames were visible on both sides of the Potomac River.
Situational Awareness, Chain Bridge Road, McLean/Fairfax county Virginia house fire – perspective from DC/MD (video) pic.twitter.com/QaonsRB12m
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) December 22, 2021
WTOP reports that the $3.4 million mansion that caught fire is owned by Robb and his wife, Lynda. Officials, however, did not identify the occupants who were hospitalized by name.
Robb, a Democrat, was the governor of Virginia from 1982 to 1986. He then represented the commonwealth in the Senate for two terms.
On Wednesday morning, Virginia’s current governor, Ralph Northam, expressed sympathy to Robb and his wife. “Pam and I were deeply saddened to learn of a fire at the home of former governor Chuck Robb,” Northam said in a statement posted to Twitter. “Our thoughts are with Chuck and Lynda as they recover from this tragedy.”
Investigators are now examining the property to determine the cause of the fire, WTOP reports.
Update: On Wednesday, Northam said in a statement that Robb’s family had confirmed that the former governor and his wife were the only people in the home at the time of the fire and that the two had been taken in an ambulance to the hospital for treatment of their non-life-threatening injuries.
“Our entire family is deeply grateful to the firefighters for their rapid response and the medical professionals who are taking care of them,” the Robbs three daughters said in a statement provided to Northam. “We have what is most important to us — our mom and dad.”
Luke Mullins is a senior writer at Washingtonian magazine focusing on the people and institutions that control the city’s levers of power. He has written about the Koch Brothers’ attempt to take over The Cato Institute, David Gregory’s ouster as moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press, the collapse of Washington’s Metro system, and the conflict that split apart the founders of Politico.
