2-Alarm Fire Destroys Garage at USDA Campus in Beltsville

Vehicles burned inside building

What to Know

  • Crews arrived to find heavy fire along the side of and inside a building that houses a garage.
  • Vehicles inside the building were on fire, said a Prince George's County Fire spokesman.
  • There's no word on any possible injuries.

A two-alarm fire at the U.S. Department of Agriculture facility in Beltsville, Maryland, burned a garage to the ground Tuesday.

Several vehicles were also destroyed.

Crews were called Tuesday morning for a reported shed fire. They arrived to find heavy fire along the side of and inside a large garage. Vehicles inside the building were on fire, said a Prince George's County fire spokesman.

Prince George's County fire/EMS department spokesman Mark Brady said it took firefighters about 45 minutes Tuesday to knock down most of the flames at a one-story row of workshops inside the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland.

Most of the fire was out by about 11 a.m.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman David Cheplak says arson and explosives agents, who often investigate large fires and fires at federal facilities, are on the scene.

He said in an email late Tuesday that there does not appear to be evidence that a criminal act occurred. Cheplak emphasized that the investigation is still open.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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