It was no ordinary day for WLOY Radio Station Operations Manager John Devecka who lives with his wife, 19-year-old daughter, and dog in the Coldspring Newtown community on Dec. 5 as they are located directly uphill from the brush fire.
“We were definitely worried about our home,” Devecka said. “Also, the senior apartments and the Waldorf School that are at the top of the hill are even closer to the fire.”
According to CBS News, over 100 firefighters and 12 engine companies responded to a huge brush fire in Camp Small, a wood recycling facility, in the Woodberry neighborhood.
The proximity of the fire to the Ridley Athletic Complex and an off-campus residence is what prompted members of Loyola to receive a Greyhound Alert around 8:30 p.m.
The fire wasn’t noticed until 5:15p.m. Devecka explained that he wasn’t home when the fire broke out, but he was on his way back home when they closed down Cold Spring Lane.
“At that point, you could smell the wood smoke, but maps were showing it as a crash, not a fire. So, I just rerouted to get home,” Devecka said.
Baltimore Fire Officials confirmed the reason this became such a massive and complicated fire was because of the number of trees in the area and the high wind currents. The Baltimore City Fire Department quickly rushed to the scene.
“We could hear fire trucks, but it wasn’t until 9:00 p.m. that the glow from the fire had become so huge to the point it had lit up the east side of our neighborhood,” Devecka said. “The road to Camp Small is piled on both sides with high log piles so there was lots of fuel for it to burn.”
At 9:30 p.m., Devecka and his family left to go to a hotel because they were still not sure if they could control the blaze. If the wind shifted west, it was going to rip through their neighborhood and the Cylburn Arboretum, which is surrounded by woods, very fast.
“There are a lot of dry trees and leaves around us that would go up quickly because of the drought conditions especially considering that there has been a burn ban effect for quite a while,” he said. “None of us wanted to try to sleep wondering if we’d get a call to evacuate in the middle of the night.”
Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace told CBS he had never encountered such a huge fire in his career. On Friday morning, the fire still hadn’t been completely contained, causing road closures, traffic, and the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and Western High School to close their doors for the day.
As of Friday evening, the fire was finally contained, leaving a large amount of smoke and ashes in the air throughout the area. However, the cause of it is still under investigation. No injuries have been reported. Devecka thanks every first responder who helped put the fire out and protect the neighborhood.
“I’m grateful we had such great fire crews out there and no one got hurt. It could have been much, much worse.”
