On Dec. 4 at about 8:25 p.m., an explosion went off in the Ballston-Bluemont area according to Arlington County Police. A duplex on the 800th block of North Burlington Street reportedly exploded following police attempting to conduct a search warrant. The incident unfolded after law enforcement responded to a call at 4:45 p.m. to investigate a suspect firing a flare gun inside the residence. The situation rapidly escalated as the cops were called and more flares were fired. Arlington County estimates the suspect fired the flare gun 30-40 times before the explosion.
Additionally, WUSA 9 reported that the Arlington County Fire Department evacuated neighboring residents as a precaution, and it was unclear whether any casualties occurred as of 10 p.m., Dec 4. Video footage of the explosion has predominantly been circulating on X (formerly Twitter) and Snapchat.
Junior Sidney Le was at Silver Diner for dinner with her friends when she heard the blast.
“[My friends] were waiting outside for me, and they said, ‘do you guys hear that?’ and I joked and said ‘woah, it was a bomb.’” Le said. “And then we learned that it was actually a bomb. We were joking around and we thought it was construction.”
The cause of the explosion remains unknown, with an investigation underway. It’s critical to note that no credited sources have confirmed the explosion was the result of a bomb. Authorities, along with other officials, are working diligently to understand the factors that may have led to the escalation. As of now, this story is still developing.
Since the incident occurred within Wakefield High School’s school district, many students who live in the area or attend the school were either first-hand witnesses or saw pictures and firsthand accounts from other students.
Maddy Dean, a sophomore at Wakefield, shared Le’s shock. “It was a huge boom that shook my entire house,” Dean said. “My dad went over and he saw people evacuating. One couple even had a baby with them.”
“We thought it was just clouds in the sky, but all of it was smoke,” Le said.
“We could see the smoke from my house,” Dean added. “It’s just so scary.”
Ethan Heinrich, a senior at Wakefield, added that he and his friends were “sitting on my couch, watching “Love, Actually,” and then we heard this huge boom that shook my entire house.”
Sharing Le’s confusion, he said, “we knew it was more than just a malfunction, and we immediately texted our friends in the neighborhood. We thought it was a transformer that exploded, or maybe a sonic boom, but we found out that it was the actual house that exploded later.”
As this investigation progresses, the community anxiously awaits updates. Although the explosion itself had a relatively limited physical impact, its influence on the community has been significant, sparking fear and uncertainty among residents.
