Firefighters were battling a huge wind-driven fire at a Baltimore wood recycling yard that for a time closed a section of the expressway into the city’s downtown, the neighboring light rail line, and nearby roads and schools.
Crews were called to the Camp Small yard, where large trees and logs were stacked about 30ft (about 9 meters) high, after 5pm on Thursday, the Baltimore city fire chief, James Wallace, said at a briefing.
“When they got here, they discovered a rapidly evolving fire that was in a large pile of trees and logs in a large area. This stage is just that, lots of trees, logs, stumps and things like that,” Wallace said. “This has been a challenge because it’s been a wind-driven fire. It’s very, very difficult for us to get out ahead of it.”
About 100 to 125 firefighters were battling the fire on Thursday night and while the fire was not under control, Wallace said crews had gained an upper hand. Firefighters planned to move heavy equipment in to try to cut a ring around the fire to contain it once they had more control, he said.
Interstate 83 and the neighboring light rail line were shut down in the area and two nearby high schools were closed on Friday, the mayor, Brandon Scott, said at a briefing. Officials did not anticipate a need for evacuations in the area.
By later on Friday morning the fire was eventually contained.
Air quality in parts of the city were in the moderate range on Friday morning because of smoke from the fire. People sensitive to air pollution should consider avoiding outdoor activities, the Maryland department of the environment said in a social media post.
A Baltimore city fire department spokesperson, John Marsh, said no injuries had been reported even as crews spent all night working to battle the fire, which grew rapidly because of weather conditions and the enormous concentration of dry wood.
The recycling yard is filled with logs, branches and other tree waste that city crews remove from Baltimore streets, sidewalks and parks. Much of the wood is later turned into lumber and mulch or sold to local builders.
“It was the largest bonfire I’ve ever seen in my life,” Marsh said.
He said the cause remained under investigation. Officials hav not provided a timeline for when the fire could be fully extinguished.
Marsh said the smoke was now dying down, allowing officials to reopen Interstate 83, which runs from downtown Baltimore to areas north of the city. Officials announced that the northbound and southbound lanes had reopened.
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