Gusts Drive Brush Fires In Charles, Montgomery

Some Residents Forced to Evacuate

Brush fires, apparently aided by an unusual combination of gusty winds and parched terrain, crackled across sections of suburban Maryland yesterday, forcing temporary evacuations in upper Montgomery County, authorities said.

Fires consumed a shed and licked at household fences in the Gaithersburg area, where sparks from a passing train apparently ignited dry foliage about 4:15 p.m., said Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Pete Piringer.

In an odd twist, Piringer said, the shed that caught fire was at a business identified as the Guardian Fire Protection Co. He said it contained lawn equipment and cans of gasoline, which complicated the work of four dozen firefighters who battled the four or five separate blazes.

The houses evacuated for a time were near Oakmont Avenue in the Washington Grove section, and the damaged fences were behind houses on Rolling Road and Woodland Road, Piringer said.

In the Waldorf area of Charles County, a three-alarm brush fire spread along Wilson Road, authorities said. The cause of the blaze, which took more than two hours to extinguish, was under investigation.

Winds gusted up to 30 mph in the Washington area yesterday. Almost no rain has fallen this month, and the dryness of the day pushed humidity readings down to 20 percent at times.

The National Weather Service said the weather amounted to "near Red Flag conditions," a term used to highlight wildfire hazards.

Today, however, should be less breezy, said weather service meteorologist John Darnley.