Kids’ sports center in Woodbridge burns down after strong winds blow flames from nearby home

Four people are without a home and the Kids’ Choice Sports Center in Woodbridge is gone, after a fire quickly spread from one structure to another on Thursday afternoon, destroying them both.

The fire in Woodbridge is one of multiple fast-moving fires that took place Thursday and overnight into Friday in Baltimore, Woodbridge and Manassas — all three fueled by the strong winds blowing through the DMV.

All three fires are a reminder that fire, wind and dry conditions are a catastrophic combination. It was especially true of the fire in Woodbridge, which left the massive 50,000-square-foot sports center a charred shell of the former building.

What was left of the warehouse — once home to a pool, laser tag and a variety of sports courts — could be seen Friday morning, hollowed out and covered in soot.

“I’d just come out my office door right over there, I looked to the right, and I just see flames on the wall,” said Linda Bradshaw, the general manager of Kids’ Choice. She and her son were the only two people inside the building on Thursday when she smelled smoke.

“It wasn’t even down on the ground, it just seemed to start right in the middle of the wall,” Bradshaw said. “I just call 911, gather up our stuff, and out the door we went.”

Fire investigators are still trying to figure out what first sparked the fire in the Woodbridge home just before 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. Because of the winds, flames quickly spread from the home on Devil’s Reach Road to the Kid’s Choice Sports Center directly behind the house.

Prince William County Fire Marshals were on the scene all morning long, snapping photos and walking across both properties to try and identify the cause.

Four adults lived inside of the Devil’s Reach Road home. All four of those people have been left without belongings and a place to stay. The Red Cross is assisting them, according to Prince William County Fire.

One person was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. That number could have been much higher, if the fire had started burning even just one hour later, when kids were set to arrive for after-school programs.

“An hour later, they would have been here,” she said. “An hour later, they would have been in this building,” Bradshaw said, standing outside an open and blackened doorway to the warehouse.

The Kids’ Choice center has already announced its temporary closure on Thursday evening, citing “unforeseen circumstances” in a Facebook post.

In the meantime, the families who visit Kids’ Choice are left with the same sudden questions as people who work there.

“What am I going to do?” Bradshaw said, looking at the rubble. “I’m hoping to rebuild. I’m hoping they can decide to rebuild it and make it bigger and better. Because it was an older building. But them sprinklers did their job, because it looks like the other half is gonna be OK.”