WASHINGTON — Firefighters are trying to determine what caused a boiler plant at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center to go up in flames Monday morning.
There was heavy fire showing through the roof when firefighters arrived at the building off Powder Mill Road around 6:30 a.m.
Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc Bashoor tweeted that the roof of the boiler building collapsed at Building 202 on Animal Husbandry Road.
About 40 firefighters from Prince George’s and Montgomery counties battled the fire, and were on the scene about three hours.
No one was inside. No injuries were reported. The fire was extinguished 30 minutes later — at 7 a.m.
A handful of buildings near the boiler plant are without heating and electricity as a result of the fire. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is conducting the investigation.
On Monday afternoon, the Agricultural Research Service issued the following statement:
“The Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) remains open following a morning fire that damaged a mechanical room. The boilers in that structure provided heat to six buildings on the eastside of BARC.
“The fire resulted in structural damage to the mechanical room and flooding in the basement of an adjacent building. No people or animals were injured and no scientific research was lost due to the fire. An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the fire.”
See video from the scene.
