Community Corner

Report: Lawsuit Dismissed in Brush Fire Investigation Case

Resident sought "secret files" in the investigation of the February 2011 brush fire in Montgomery County, The Gazette reports.

A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking “secret files” and records tied to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service’s investigation of a massive brush fire in 2011, The Gazette reports.

Judge David A. Boynton made the ruling Thursday.

In February 2011, a brush fire that originated near a Pepco substation on Germantown Road spread north toward Riffleford Road and Seneca Creek, burning an estimated 460 acres in its path, Patch has reported.

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Don Buck, who lives near Darnestown, said he lost property in the fire. He filed the suit in April that claimed MCFRS was withholding information about the investigation, The Gazette reports. 

County lawyers said MCFRS had given Boynton all the information it had and claimed the county spent $3,600 fulfilling the requests; the judge determined Buck failed to repudiate the county's argument, The Gazette reports. 

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