Sunday Fire at Bechtel Building Not Affecting Business Operations

(This article was updated at about 4:15 p.m. after Fairfax County Fire and Rescue provided a press release on the incident.)

Work is continuing as usual today at Bechtel (12011 Sunset Hills Road) after a Sunday fire on the building’s 11th floor.

Affected employees remain at work Monday but have been moved to other areas of the building, said Iva Zagar, Bechtel spokesperson.

“[Our facilities team] has been really helpful to the people who have been affected, to point them in the right direction,” she said. “I haven’t heard that anybody can’t do work, so everything is smooth this morning.”

The two-alarm fire before 8 a.m. Sunday at the One Reston Overlook building was electrical in nature, said Bill Delaney, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue public information officer. It involved a junction box around a set of work stations, he said, but how the box failed remains under investigation.

“They know it started there, but they’re still trying to figure out exactly what occurred,” Delaney said.

A restoration crew is at the site Monday working to clean up damage caused by the flames and accompanying smoke. According to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, damages from the fire are estimated at about $40,000. About 20 employees were working in the building at the time of the blaze; however, no one was reported injured.

“The good news is, the fire sprinklers did their job — they were able to contain the fire,” Delaney said. “Then our folks got there and were able to put the remainder of the fire out, but it did generate a good deal of smoke, and there was some damage as well from the actual flames.”

Light smoke damage was also reported in the 12th floor, according to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue.

Bechtel is the largest construction and civil engineering company in the United States, and is one of the largest privately owned companies in the nation. Its Reston location is its nuclear, security and environmental business office.