On Friday, April 15, 2022, firefighters from Bay District Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched to 47452 Sewell Road in Lexington Park, for the reported small brush fire.
Bay District Tanker 34 and Brush 3 arrived on the scene and found approximately 1 acre on fire and requested additional brush trucks, tankers and the tanker task force.
Due to wind, very dry and thick brush, the fire rapidly spread to over 5 acres of land in under 10 minutes which threatened multiple abandoned structures, multiple occupied residences on Sewell Road while also spreading towards Melissa Moore Lane and multiple private unnamed driveways alongside Hermanville Road with occupied residences.
Crews had difficulty accessing the fire due to the thick brush and limited vehicle access. Maryland State Police Helicopter Trooper 7 landed nearby and picked up volunteer firefighters from Bay District to get an estimated size and direction of the fire.
A fire line was started with bulldozers and excavating equipment to contain the fire.
The men and women of Leonardtown, Mechanicsville, Bay District, NAS Patuxent River, Ridge, Seventh District, Valley Lee, Hollywood, Solomons, St. Leonard, Huntingtown, and Maryland Department of Forestry worked tirelessly for over 4 hours to control the blaze, and operated on the scene for over 8 hours.
Every fire department in St. Mary’s County and nearly every department from Calvert responded to assist. Fire departments from Prince George’s County and Charles County responded to numerous calls of service in the Northern part of St. Mary’s, with crews from Waldorf, La Plata, and Hughesville filling in at our stations,
Maryland State Police Aviation, METCOM, St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland Department of Forestry, and Maryland State Highway responded to the scene to assist with fire department operations. J. Browne Excavating and other citizens/businesses provided much needed bulldozers to assist.
Mission BBQ (California, MD) provided multiple gallons of drinks and over 5 pounds of food, Showtime Deli provided 70 subs, Scanmd Fire & Rescue Solutions
provided ice, water and Gatorade, and Papa John’s Pizza provided over 50 pizzas.
Luckily, no injuries were reported. Only abandoned buildings/small structures were damaged. Firefighters saved three occupied residences, and one unoccupied structure.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
Firefighters from Bay District and the Maryland Forestry responded back to the scene on Sunday, April 17, 2022, for the reported smoke coming from the woods.
Crews arrived on the scene and found a large fallen tree smoldering.
Units operated for over an hour and walked the entire area before returning to service.
