On Jan. 4 at 6:28 p.m., a loaded United Propane truck driven by Ronald Howard Watson, 39, of La Plata was traveling on Woodville Road near Prince George's County when a deer ran into the roadway. The truck struck the deer, left the roadway, overturned and caught fire. The driver escaped the vehicle uninjured.
Woodville Road was closed overnight and reopened shortly before 11 a.m. on Jan. 5 from Creekside Place in Charles County to the intersection of Dr. Bowen Road and Route 381 in Prince George's County to allow the propane to burn off into the atmosphere.
The fire, according incident commander Antwan Thomas, Assistant Chief of the Hughesville Fire Department, was confined to the truck, which contained approximately 2,000 gallons of propane. The fire was extinguished shortly after 8 a.m. the following day. No homes or woodlands were affected; however, five residences in the immediate area below Creekside Place in Charles County and into a portion of Prince George's County were evacuated. Residents did not have to be sheltered.
Approximately 60 personnel were at the scene to keep the blaze under control. Units responded from Charles, Calvert, and Prince George's counties, including the Hughesville, Benedict, Baden, Brandywine, La Plata, Prince Frederick, Waldorf, Westlake, Indian Head and Prince Frederick Volunteer Fire Departments. Also on the scene were the Hazmat units from Charles County and NSWC Indian Head Division, the Charles County Medic Unit, the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Roads Division of the Charles County Department of Public Facilities.