WASHINGTON — Strong winds, mild temperatures and dry conditions turned the mid-Atlantic region into a tinderbox Saturday, contributing to dozens of wildfires, snarling traffic and even toppling the National Christmas Tree.
Maryland State Police shut down Interstate 95 in both directions in the Laurel area Saturday afternoon after a wildfire at a mulch plant jumped into the median of the highway.
Prince George’s County firefighters were battling that blaze and several others, prompting Fire Chief Marc Bashoor to call every firefighter in the county to active duty and open the county’s emergency operations center.
There were no reports of deaths or serious injuries.
The region was under a high-wind warning for much of the day. Sustained winds were measured at 25 to 30 mph, with gusts recorded at up to 55 mph, said Kevin Witt, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va.
Temperatures were in the mid-50s, but the dew point was in the teens — an indication that the air was unusually dry, Witt said.
“Once we get these fires going, it’s really tough to combat these things with these strong, gusty winds and very low moisture in low levels of the atmosphere,” Witt said.
The region has received no significant rainfall for the past week. The strongest winds were expected to subside by 5 p.m., but wind warnings remained in effect until later Saturday, Witt said. More moisture was expected in the air today, with a chance of showers this evening into Monday morning, he said.
The fire at the Laurel mulch plant was one of the most troublesome. Also in Prince George’s, a brush fire thought to have started at a farm damaged as many as 20 structures, including homes, sheds and barns, a county spokesman said. Firefighters from northern Virginia were called in to assist because the county fire department was stretched so thin.
In Washington, D.C., strong winds toppled the National Christmas Tree, a Colorado blue spruce that had stood on the Ellipse just south of the White House since 1978. The tree was mulched Saturday afternoon, and a replacement tree has been chosen and will be planted sometime in the spring, said Bill Line, a spokesman for the National Park Service.
Other wildfires
Maryland: In Odenton, more than 100 firefighters were battling a five-alarm brush fire so large that they were unable even to estimate its size. Large brush fires were also reported in Montgomery County and in the Baltimore area.
Virginia: In central Rockingham County, firefighters and the U.S. Forest Service spent much of Saturday battling a fire that had engulfed 300 acres of forest.
North Carolina: About 130 fires were being fought across the state Saturday. Winds were expected to exacerbate a wildfire near Chimney Rock in the western part of the state that has scorched 1,400 acres.
South Carolina: State Forestry Commission spokesman Scott Hawkins told The Sun News of Myrtle Beach that firefighters had been called to 77 wildfires statewide.
