Fire at the quarry…
March 14, 2024, 8:38 PM
Sometimes, you just have to be at the right place at the right time. I had a doctor’s appointment today near Shady Grove Adventist Hospital, but before I left, Elyse gave me a heads-up that there was a fire at the Aggregate Industries quarry off of Piney Meetinghouse Road. Funny thing about this: I discovered that quarry about a month ago on Maps, and added it to my photo list, which I jokingly refer to as “the place where photo ideas go to die” because of how infrequently I cross things off of it. So this worked out nicely, because I already knew exactly where the location was, and I would already be nearby. So I threw the drone in the back of the car and made plans to check out the quarry after my appointment. As I approached Interstate 270, the smoke became quite evident, with a large plume of smoke visible in the distance. After the appointment, I headed over, and found a safe place to fly that was out of the way, but where I could still see everything that I needed to see in order to fly safely.
Being a working fire situation, I kept my distance. I did not want to interfere with the firefighting efforts in any way, and truth be told, I didn’t want to be noticed at all. I just wanted to get in, get my shots, and then get out. I knew the kind of stuff that I would capture and how I would fly if I was flying under normal conditions, but this was not that, and so I adjusted accordingly.
According to news sources, the fire involved two liquid asphalt tanks, one tank containing used motor oil, and various other miscellaneous equipment owned by the F.O. Day Bituminous Company, which has facilities on the site. Due to its being an oil fire, they couldn’t use water on the flames, so they had to get a foam unit to come out from Dulles Airport to help extinguish the fire. The fire was completely out by the evening. Fortunately, everyone on site was safely evacuated, and no one was hurt. There was also no danger to the public or the surrounding area, and a fire department spokesman likened the smoke to a bad air quality day. So at the end of the day, it was only property damage, i.e. nothing that money can’t fix.
That said, here’s what I got from today’s visit to the quarry:
There were a few things that I noticed when flying and in post-production. First, the area that was actually on fire was quite small, but the smoke was huge. I had to remind myself that while the smoke was so large, to remember to keep the fire in the shots as well. Another thing that I noticed when I was processing the photos was the high-rises in the background of the shots that faced south. I am fairly confident that those buildings are in Reston, i.e. in Fairfax County, Virginia. To me, it was a reminder that despite the lack of road infrastructure that makes it where we have to go all the way down to the Beltway or all the way out to Frederick County to move between the two places, Rockville and Reston aren’t that far apart. It’s only about ten miles to Reston from the quarry as the crow flies, but it’s nearly 25 miles’ driving distance because of the lack of a bridge connection in that area. And lastly, does anyone else see the heart shape in the smoke in the last photo? I smiled when I noticed that.
So there you go. Now I need to go back there on a day when things aren’t on fire and photograph the place with the drone like I mean it. I’ve gotten some decent quarry photos before out in West Virginia, but I’d love to go out for a spin again with this facility.
Categories: DC area local news, Montgomery County, Photography