Massive Owings Mills Brush Fire Contained: 29 Homes Evacuated And 700 Acres Burned

OWINGS MILLS - The eight-alarm brush fire that forced dozens of Owings Mills residents to evacuate their homes on Tuesday night has been contained, according to the Baltimore County Fire Department.

Crews worked through the night to limit the spread and continue to put out hot spots. Roads in the area will remain closed as crews return to their stations and officials assess the damage. The Department of Natural Resources also announced that all Soldiers Delight Park areas will be closed until further notice.

The Maryland National Guard Helicopter will continue to drop water on the site throughout Wednesday to ensure the fire does not reignite.

Around 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Baltimore County and regional fire crews responded to reports of a brush fire at the Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area (5100 block of Deer Park Rd).

The fire quickly spread out of control and was declared an eight-alarm wildland fire. Over 200 firefighters from across the region and the Maryland National Guard Helicopter worked for over eight hours to contain the fire, according to Baltimore County Fire Lieutenant Travis Francis.

Smoke billowed throughout much of Baltimore County and was visible on radar, WBAL's Tony Pann reports.

Baltimore County fire spokeswoman Elise Armacost described the fire as a "huge incident" and said that the last time crews dealt with a blaze of this size was in the 1970s when an explosion triggered a massive fire in Upperco.

In total, the fire is estimated to have burned about 700 acres, or a third of the park's total size. Deputy Fire Chief Francis DiPaula added that this was the largest fire spread that he had seen in the county.

Two outbuildings were destroyed, but all homes in the area were left undamaged. Up to 29 homes were evacuated, according to officials.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski thanked career and volunteer firefighters from across Central Maryland for their assistance.

"This is really unprecedented," Olszewski said. "This was truly an all-hands-on-deck effort."

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.