WALDORF — An overnight fire Sunday destroyed or damaged 27 commercial vehicles and the roof over a parking area behind a building on Industrial Park Drive, state fire investigators said, a loss they estimate at $3.8 million.
No one was hurt, and no one was displaced. The Office of the State Fire Marshal said both the area where the fire began and its cause remain under investigation.
A passerby spotted the fire at 3:09 a.m. Oct. 18 in the parking area behind 3 Industrial Park Drive, a structure occupied by Verizon, according to the fire marshal’s notice of investigation. The fire damaged or destroyed the 27 vehicles, their contents and the parking roof structure.
All images courtesy of Charles County Volunteer Fire and Emergency Medical Services
The Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department was the primary company on the call. The fire went to two alarms, drawing about 100 firefighters, and crews had it under control in about an hour.
The notice breaks the estimated loss into two parts:
- Structure: $3.5 million
- Contents: $300,000
The fire marshal’s office did not say how it divided the vehicles and the parking roof between those two figures, who owns the vehicles, or whether operations at the building were affected.
The time it takes investigators to reach a finding varies. After the August fire at a La Plata nursing home that forced 32 people out, deputy state fire marshals announced a cause two days later. The office has not said when it expects to release findings in the Waldorf fire.
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the State Fire Marshal’s Southern Regional Office at 410-414-3600.
