Massive brush fire breaks out in Gaithersburg park amid red flag warning

GAITHERSBURG, Md. - What started as a small fire at a Montgomery County park, led to an evacuation and closure of some streets.

Families in one Montgomery County community say they’re grateful to be safe and alive after Wednesday’s strong winds whipped up the brush fire.

Here's What Happened:

Early Wednesday, Montgomery County Fire officials put out a red flag warning alerting the community to the strong winds and low humidity. 

A woman who was working remotely from her Gaithersburg home says around 4 p.m., she was in her office when she got a text to look out her window.

"I looked out my back window and I saw all this smoke and these flames in the park," neighbor Karen Coomes said.

The flames were coming from Great Seneca Stream Valley facing her backyard.

"When you consider how quickly it moved across the three properties that are here on this sub-division. It could’ve moved up the hill very quickly," Coomes said. 

Coomes said after seeing the flames spread, she picked the phone, dialed 911, and evacuated her home with a number of her neighbors on Bell Bluff Road.

"The fire people came very quickly and they got the trucks lined up, drug the hose through the yard and got into the valley and were dealing with it as quickly as they could," said Coomes. 

What we know:

Several dozen Montgomery County Fire and Rescue crews spent the afternoon trying to put out the fire that officials say started "small," but extended several yards, starting to burn trees and "dense" vegetation in the valley during a red flag warning.

"When I saw the fire, that’s the very first thing I thought, ‘oh this is very very bad. It is a very high wind day today,’" said Coomes. "I feel very grateful that everybody in this subdivision is fine."

What they're saying:

Fire officials did confirm that no homes were affected by Wednesday’s fire and no injuries were reported.