Dry, windy conditions have raised concerns about the risk of wildfires in the D.C. region.
At Wednesday’s media briefing with Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, the county’s Fire Chief Corey Smedley told reporters the state of Maryland had enacted a ban on open fires. The state has already had a series of wildfires.
“We’ve had 24 this year already, which have burned 75 acres throughout the state,” Smedley said. “Montgomery County is not used to massive wildfires, however they do happen.”
Wildfires pose an elevated risk because the county is so densely populated. Smedley said there have been between four and five wildfires in the last few days in the county.
“We spent several hours on each of those,” he said.
Smedley said the wildfires happened in areas around Gaithersburg and Poolesville.
A common cause — improper disposal of smoking materials.
Smedley urged residents to comply with the burn ban, which bars open fires, such as campfires and the use of charcoal grills. The use of propane grills is, however, allowed. A first-time violation of the statewide ban on open burning can result in a $300 citation.
Smedley said homeowners and business owners alike should take care when storing flammable liquids, and should not park vehicles over dried out grass or leaves. He explained that a vehicle’s undercarriage can heat up when in use and start a fire.
The Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments released a statement Thursday morning announcing that it is extending its drought watch, which applies to nearly 6 million residents across the D.C. region. Under the watch, residents are asked to voluntarily conserve water to reduce demand on the regional water supply.
According to the release, the drought watch is in its fourth month, and it’s the first time since 2010 that COG has declared a drought watch.
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