Late Friday night only moments before the clock struck midnight a gathering of youths at the first annual “Campfires and Amplifiers” music festival in Piney Point were startled by the shock wave of an explosion coming from a transformer explosion which completely destroyed a supposedly abandoned building close to the campsite.
Truck no.61 from the St. Mary’s second district fire department responded shortly after the blaze erupted just in time to keep the fire from spreading into the grounds of Camp MD. where the festival was taking place. The firefighters were not able to save the residence initially affected by blast.
Initial responses to the explosion from event spectators were like that of Jamie Gott a visitor to the area from Capitol Heights, MD. Gott said, “We just heard the big boom and started running.” She was visiting the area with her daughter and was surprised by how fast the blaze spread throughout the residence and surrounding trees.
After the initial response the fire itself became the spectacle for many of the event’s patrons and it continued to burn for more than an hour after firefighters initially responded. Firefighters and emergency response personnel remained on the scene for several hours making sure the blaze was under control.
