Oops! Fire Chief Shoots Down Meteorite Theory

Updated at 4:20 p.m.

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BOWIE, MD — Bowie firefighters seem to have jumped the gun when they used social media to pin the cause of a large brush fire behind Scarlett Oak Terrace on a meteorite falling to earth.

The Bowie Volunteer Fire Department shared photos on its Twitter feed that showed the burned area, with a rock in the middle of the charred, cratered site.

Here’s how the department described it: “Odd one. Possible meteorite strike behind Scarlett oak terrace. Causing a massive brush fire.”

But a scientist threw cold water on that explanation and the Bowie fire chief said that it was an error for someone on the department to have shared their theory on Twitter.

“A tweet was sent out using the official department Twitter account that insinuated that there was a relationship between a meteorite and the cause of fire,” Chief Jonathan D. Howard Sr. said in a statement to The Washington Post. “This was simply not so and the post should have never been made listing a cause. Cause and determination is made solely by the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department. As the Chief of the Bowie Volunteer Fire Department, I apologize for the media attention this has created and have put measures in place to make sure this doesn’t occur again.”

The fire started Sunday between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. just off Maryland Route 450. Fire officials initially said they thought flames from the rock ignited the trees and bushes in the area.

»Did you see the meteorite fall to Earth in Bowie? Share your comments below.

Crews from Station 39 in Bowie responded to the brush fire, city officials said, which was extinguished after about four hours. County investigators are looking into the cause of the fire.

But U.S. Naval Observatory astronomer Geoff Chester says meteorites are cold when they strike the Earth. The only way a meteorite would cause a fire is if they hit something flammable, Chester told the Post.

Meteorite striking the Earth are the end of a remarkable journey through space.

According to NASA, the small chunks of rock and debris floating in space are meteoroids. They become meteors -- or shooting stars -- when they pass through Earth's atmosphere, leaving a bright trail as they are super-heated by the friction of the atmosphere.

The rock remnants that survive the passage through the atmosphere and hit the ground are called meteorites, the agency says.

If you see a meteorite, the American Meteor Society would like to hear from you. The group has a Report a Fireball link on its website to register and debunk reports.

Spring in the northern hemisphere is the most active time to see meteors – which the group calls fireballs. The appearance rate of fireballs can increase by as much as 30 percent in the spring months, the society says, while February is the most active month for fireballs.

Now that your curiosity is piqued, tonight is the last night of the Lyrids Meteor Shower. While the peak activity was on Friday, there’s still a chance to catch the celestial show.

The Lyrids don’t produce a lot of meteors — typically, around 10 to 15 on a moonless night — they are known for uncommon, difficult-to-predict surges that can sometimes bring up to 100 meteors per hour.

Another aspect that — usually — makes this meteor shower a crowd-pleaser is that the Lyrids tend to be bright and often leave trails.

The weather should cooperate Monday night for star-gazing or meteor hunting. The National Weather Service predicts partly cloudy skies with a low of 62 degrees.

»Photos of brush fire site, courtesy of Bowie Volunteer Fire Department