Just before 12 Noon today units from the Prince George's County
Fire/Emergency Medical Services Department were dispatched for a reported
brush fire in College Park. Units from the nearby Branchville Fire Station
11 responded to the industrial area in the 5700 block of Branchville Road and
followed a large column of black smoke that could be seen for miles.
The brush fire was located along the Metro Tracks, one mile south of the Greenbelt Station. This largely remote area consisted of field containing thick brush, large trees and 8 foot high straw grass. The fire burned intensely for almost 2 hours and consumed 25 to 30 acres of land.
In addition to the firefighters from the Branchville Station, engines from College Park Fire Station 12 as well as four wheel drive brush units from Beltsville, West Lanham Hills, and Glenn Dale also responded.
Today's winds help fuel the rapid spread of this fire and made it extremely difficult to extinguish.
As a precaution Metro Trains and CSX trains slowed their travel through the area while firefighters extinguished the fire.
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