Update: Crews Battle 3-Alarm Fire at Storage Facility

Updated at 6:32 p.m.

UPPER MARLBORO, MD — Firefighters from several counties battled a fire in a two-story storage facility in Upper Marlboro for more than two hours.

The two-alarm fire was reported at Fort Knox Self Storage in the 15400 block of Depot Lane, says Prince George’s County Fire Department spokesman Mark Brady via Twitter.

Heavy fire was showing from numerous storage units about 11 a.m.

A third alarm was issued early Tuesday afternoon by Fire Chief Marc Bashoor to help tackle the stubborn blaze in a building that does not have a sprinkler system.

Fire crews from Anne Arundel, Prince Frederick and Calvert counties were called to help fight the fire, or to staff some of the Prince George’s County fire stations whose crews were at the storage fire.

Route 301 southbound was closed at Marlboro Pike because of the fire vehicles, but has reopened

Storage lockers that contained furniture, boxes of clothes, paper products, mechanical equipment, work tools and lawn mowers all burned. The fire department says on its blog that at least two small explosions were heard during the firefight, which demonstrates the dangers of fighting fires in storage facilities, where firefighters never know what’s inside of the units.

The explosions did not cause any further damage.

About 40 fire/EMS units were on the scene and 105 firefighters and medics. It required about two hours to bring the fire under control. The contents of several dozen storage lockers were destroyed, with others sustaining water and smoke damage.

Two firefighters demonstrated signs of hypertension and were taken to a hospital for additional evaluation.

Prince George’s County fire investigators are searching for the cause of the fire. The blaze is believed to have started accidentally, but the cause and origin will remain undetermined until investigators have concluded their work. Fire loss estimates are still being tabulated.

»Photos from PGCFD blog, Twitter account