Posted on 11/03/2004 6:17:39 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
JUST BREAKING!! FIRE ALL OVER THE PLACE!
Maybe but since the building was under renovation, maybe it is related to roofing work being done.
ROTFLOL!
My families claim to fame:
You remember the song by Alabama "My Home's in Alabama?"
There is a line in it that goes "Then I heard about the bar room just across the Georgia line, where a boy could make a living playing guitar for a dime"
My dad's boyhood friend owned that bar.
From link at #66, note: no injuries so far:
UPPER MARLBORO, MD. - A huge fire is engulfing the Prince George's County Courthouse.
"We're going to be working with this fire for quite some time," Prince George's County Fire and EMS spokesman Chauncey Bowers tells WTOP.
The fire, which started on the roof of the historic courthouse, is now at three alarms. The part of the building that is burning is the original courthouse, where renovations have been underway.
Flames are shooting from the roof and bell tower of the building at 14735 Main St. The fire is being fanned by high winds.
"Our major concern is to keep this fire in the section of the building where it started, and then ultimately to get this thing extinguished," Bowers tells WTOP.
More than 100 firefighters are on the scene.
"They're all shaken up," the WTOP listener says, describing the people who have been evacuated from the building.
The courthouse complex houses the Circuit Court, District Court and Orphans' Court.
No injuries have been reported.
Streets around the courthouse are closed. Drivers are urged to avoid the area.
"Anybody who needs to travel through the Upper Marlboro area needs to avoid it," Bowers tells WTOP.
A spokesman for the county's state's attorney's office says land records and criminal cases are at risk.
Thanks!
Well they are not on Osama's $hitlist, so they can rest easy.
Will she SING at noon today?.......
That's your key. If it's a metal roof, welder ignited a support beam. If it's tar-and-gravel or asphalt shingles, somebody left the propane-fired asphalt heater turned on overnight.
The fire happened early enough in the morning that there probably weren't very many folks in the building. Also, since the fire started high and is burning (relatively) slowly down, anybody who was there had time to get out.
The real loss is going to be in the deed room. Title to land depends entirely on deed records, hope they have them microfilmed at a separate location.
From the picture, the fire looks very very bad in terms of damage. You can see the smoke trickling out of the areas where the fire hasn't broken through yet. Firefighters are going to have trouble getting to the source of the fire, and with the high winds they're just going to have to remove what they can save and try to keep the flames damped down. Probably no chance to put it out.
I sure hope so! Almost I hope Mama T has a few words of wisdom to share with us. It wouldn't hurt to have a few more nails to nail the liberal casket shut.
Oh crap! My son and his family are just getting ready to close on a house they are buying in that county. Hope this doesn't screw up the deal, they have already sold their townhouse.
DC Channel 4 is saying it's the old courthouse building in Upper Marlboro. I haven't seen any film of the fire, so can't report much else. I hope your friends are safe.
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY (Maryland) COURTHOUSE FULLY ENGULFED IN FIRE!
Heh...my 15-year-old hates it when I tell him he's got redneck in his blood.
The state was added by the moderators after the thread had started. Thanks for your concern.
Very windy here today, looks like the whole older part of the complex is in danger.
A judge on the phones with local news-gal Barbara Harris says that the fire is pretty much out of control right now.
Plus they SHOULD have all deed records on microfilm. It'll be a pain to reconstruct the books, but not a disaster.
Besides, courthouse fires in the deep South are a way of life (too many wooden courthouses) and nobody is having a crisis down here. The courthouse in my dad's family's home county has burned THREE times - they still manage to buy & sell land.
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