Kids sports center in ruins after three-alarm fire

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WASHINGTON – Officials with a Northern Virginia recreation center are looking at a potential temporary location after a fire ripped through their building this week.

Linda Bradshaw, general manager at the Kid’s Choice Sports Center in Woodbridge, was inside the center with her son late Thursday afternoon when it caught on fire.

“I opened up my door and looked that way, and the whole back wall was just in flames,” Bradshaw recalled Friday. “I was just shocked, because I’m like…‘How is the middle of a metal wall on fire?’, but it was.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, though the fire marshal’s office said the fire started on the outside of a single family home on Devil’s Reach Road. The home is a few yards away from the recreation center on Sport and Health Drive, with brush and other combustibles igniting and spreading to the center.

Three people were displaced from the single family home where the fire started. They are being assisted by the Red Cross, according to fire officials.

The fire was ultimately deemed a third-alarm fire.

Sky Fox Drone flew through the gutted center Friday. According to Bradshaw, the center typically sees about 100 people each day. All activities are currently on hold as they look for temporary options, she said.

“It wasn’t a whole lot of sleep last night, because it was like, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’ This has been my life working with kids and keeping them active. Hopefully, they can rebuild it. We just looked at another space that we can open temporarily,” she told FOX 5.

Right now, the center’s owners are working through insurance to determine what happens to the building. Bradshaw says she’s hopeful they will find a solution in due time.

“There’s nothing else in Prince William County for kids to go to. Even adults. They’re out here until 12 at night playing soccer. Everybody loves to stay active and fun, so hopefully,” she said.

No serious injuries were reported from the incident Thursday.