On Saturday afternoon just before 1400 hours Company 5 was alerted to the woods fire in the area of the Clements intersection. Shortly after dispatch, updated information came in and the location was changed to the power lines running from Budds Creek Road near Airport Road.
Captain 5 went on location next advising that there was about 2 acres burning about a mile back along the lines. Chief 5 arrived and requested two additional companies for brush units and tankers, bringing Leonardtown and Mechanicsville VFD's to the scene. Crews worked on scene for about an hour and thanks to some forgiving wind, were able to contain the fire from extending more than a couple yards into the wooded area.
A power outage of about 5,000 SMECO customers occurred a short time before the fire was located. The source of the fire and the outage was found to be a Vulture that hit the lines knocking out power and catching fire.
