County Firefighters Recalled to Fight Numerous Blazes

For the second time in the history of the Prince George’s County Fire Department, all off-duty firefighters were called back to work Saturday afternoon to help fight numerous fires spread by high winds across the region.

All county firefighters were asked to be on duty and additional resources were called in from other jurisdictions, Prince George’s Fire Department spokesman Mark Brady said. The only other time all off-duty firefighters were recalled was Sept. 11, 2001, he said.

Firefighters were combating a fire in Laurel that started before 1 p.m. near the aquatic center and had spread several miles to I-95 shortly before 2 p.m., Brady said. The four-alarm fire was burning out of control and was fanned by high winds, he said.

Firefighters extinguished another fire that started earlier in the day in the 1900 block of Trafalgar Court in Fort Washington, Brady said. The blaze began as a brush fire, but spread to nearby structures.

There were also reports of other fires around the county.

“These fires are being fanned and we’re seeing rapid expansion due to the high winds,” Brady said.

The National Weather Service issued high wind and critical fire weather warnings for the county through 9 p.m. Saturday. The “red flag” warning means a combination of strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures could “create explosive fire growth potential,” according to the National Weather Service.