CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md. — A three-alarm fire at a roofing company destroyed two fire trucks and burned two responding firefighters.
The two firefighters were treated for minor burns and no other injuries were reported, according to NBC Washington. The fire destroyed the two rigs when propane tanks began exploding as the wind shifted, blowing flames over the trucks.
Firefighters attempted to back the vehicles out, but were too late, according to the report.
“You’re talking about close to a million and a half dollars in fire apparatus alone that has been lost in this fire,” Prince George’s County Fire spokesman Mark Brady said.
A fire truck from the West Lanham Hills (Md.) Volunteer Fire Department and a rescue engine from the Kentland (Md.) Volunteer Fire Department were a total loss.
“We lose some brush jeeps and some four-wheel-drive pickup trucks in the wooded areas when we fight brush fires, but on a structural fire, this is the first time in Prince George’s County that I can remember losing a piece of fire apparatus on a fire,” Brady said.
Firefighters were putting out hotspots late Monday night.
The large plume of smoke could be seen for miles, as far as Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va. and near Nationals Park in Washington.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.