Brush Fire at Myrtle Point
 
By Bay District Volunteers
March 10, 2021
 

At 1748, on Wednesday March 10th, 2021, Company 9 and Boat 83 were alerted for the Outside Fire at Myrtle Point Park. Brush-9 and Engine-93 (Lt. Lindgren) responded immediately with a total of 7 volunteers. Chief-3A (Ticson) also responded. Based on the notes of the call and possible inaccessibility issues, Chief-3A requested an additional brush unit and tanker upon arrival at the front gate of the park as a large column was beginning to form. Engine-91 (Cpt. Martoni) responded with a crew of 3 to assist after these reports.

Engine-93 and Brush-9 made access to the gate and began to investigate. About half a mile from the front gate of the park, Engine-93's crew located the blaze which was approximately 100' x 400' in size. Due to the access issues, Boats 4, 5, and 6 were alerted and responded.

Crews encountered swampy marsh conditions which made firefighting activities very difficult initially. As the boats began to arrive, units coordinated to stop the head of the fire before it made it into the woodline. A quick stop by Solomons Boat 83 prevented a much longer and more complex operation.

Because of the size of the wildland fire, two divisions (North and South) were established. Due to the extensive nature of extinguishment and overhaul, 3 additional companies were alerted for manpower. After the bulk of the fire was knocked, extensive overhaul operations commenced and handlines were stretched from Tanker-74 and Boat-5 to knock hot spots all across Thomas Point.

Units operated on scene for just over 2 hours. Thank you to all mutual aid companies for your continued partnership which brought this incident to a quick and successful end. Thank you to Ridge VFD for covering Station 9 while units operated on the scene.

 
Units: Brush-9, Engine-93, Engine-91, Chief-3A
 
Mutual Aid: Engine-11 (Leonardtown), Boat-4 (Ridge), Engine-41, Boat-5 (Seventh District), Boat-6 (Second District), Brush-7 (Hollywood), Jeep-7 Engine-73, Tanker-74, Chief-7, Chief-7A, Boat-83 (Solomons), Engine-833, Ambulance-398C
 
Hyperlinks: SMNews Net Article