On Sunday, June 28, 2020, at 12:52 p.m., firefighters from Ridge and Bay District were alerted to the area of Point Lookout Road and Rosecroft Road in St. Mary’s City, for the large outside fire.
Crews arrived on the scene to find large fires spreading in multiple fields from Rosecroft Road to Bauer Road and Kittamaquund Lane.
Units on the scene requested additional units which then brought firefighters from Ridge, Bay District, NAS Patuxent River, NAS Webster Field, Valley Lee, Hollywood, Solomons, Leonardtown and Mechanicsville to the scene.
Firefighters, local neighbors and area citizens with farming equipment assisted in creating “fire lines” to prevent the fires from spreading, and to prevent nearby structures and neighbors to be affected. Firefighters with the assistance of the Maryland Forest Service controlled the fires in approximately two hours, and extinguished the fires in under three hours.
All units returned to service in approximately five hours.
The Historic St. Mary’s City Facebook page released the following statement. “We would like to give a heartfelt thank you to all the First Responders for their perseverance in stopping and containing a fire that started in one of our fields this afternoon. We are grateful not only on behalf of the museum but for the surrounding community. As far as we know, there were no buildings damaged, and the animals are doing well.”
All photos are courtesy of the Historic St. Mary’s City, the Mechanicsville, Bay District, NAS Patuxent River and Hollywood Fire Departments.
No known injuries were reported.
Firefighters reported the fire was approximately three to ten acres in total. Fire departments would like to thank the many citizens who pulled over, drove to the fire stations to give water, gatorade and other donations to them while fighting these fires in the extreme heat.
