Low relative humidity, combined with high winds created perfect conditions for brushfires in the DC area last week. In Brandywine, we had a series of brushfires that ended up burning some 17 acres of wooded area and shut down Route 301 for several hours as firefighters stretched their hoses across the highway to put the fires out. Suffice to say, the resulting traffic was horrible and despite the fact that the fires were quite close to home for us, the firefighters did a hell of a job at putting all the fires out.

I don’t know what the source of the fire was, but I would imagine most fires are started by careless people. In Maryland, there are no specific laws against open fires. In Virginia, apparently open fires are illegal before 4pm, as evidenced by warning signs along Route 301 that I took a picture of on a recent trip to Richmond. Are open fires really that big of an issue that signs have to be posted every several miles as reminders? I mean, I would have never though about stopping along the way to start an open air fire, but if I did, I guess I should have been thankful for the reminders along the way??