Baltimore's Camp Small wood recycling yard recovers one month after devastating fire

BALTIMORE -- In early December, fire engulfed Camp Small, the North Baltimore property that handles many of the city's downed trees.

A month later, hope has risen from the ashes. WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren took a tour of the facility's recovery. 

More than 100 firefighters battled the massive fire that shut down roadways, schools, and businesses. Investigators said the fire started in a large storage area with trees and logs stacked about 30 feet high.

Firefighters spent nearly 24 hours containing the massive fire which also shutdown nearby Interstate 83.

Fire's aftermath

On Thursday, the heart of Camp Small looked far different than it did before December 5.

Some of the trees, which towered 20 feet high in some spots have been removed and heavy equipment has removed the burnt debris. 

The fire left Shaun Preston, the yardmaster who runs the recycling program, fearing his eight years of hard work went up in smoke. 

"It was a night of rough sleep for sure," Preston said. 

Reporting the fire

Preston was the first to spot the fire as he was getting ready to leave work that day. 

"I saw just a small puff of smoke," Preston said. "It was so small that I almost continued to walk in the building and get my things and close up shop, but I was curious and walked over to what was our large wood chip pile and climbed up there and saw in the distance the active fire."

Preston continued, "It was small enough I could tell it had just started—and it was pretty far off in the distance. I called the fire department in. Over the next couple of hours, it became apparent that it was going to be very difficult to control that fire. We had 40 mph winds that night, dry conditions leading up to that. It spread very fast."

Thankfully, no one was injured. The equipment and main building were spared.

A rebirth

"I just felt all of the positive work we were doing was going to get lost under the devastation of just the fire, that the story was going to just be the fire," Preston said. 

Instead, he's seen a rebirth: The charred logs—tons of them—are being carted off to restore wetlands in the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River. 

Even the Smithsonian came calling, needing wood for an art show.

"Because of the fire, they reached out to us to see if they could purchase it from us instead to support us," Preston said. "They bought up most of our inventory of ash lumber that we already have."

Preston said work is being done to make sure tragedy does not strike again. 

"We're certainly thinking about all of those things, and what we can put here to prevent it from happening, how we can manage the materials more regularly so that piles don't accumulate like that that can become fire hazards," he said.

Camp Small's future

For Preston, Camp Small is bigger than him. 

The innovative programs help teach students in Baltimore City schools about the environment and recycle 9,000 tons of wood that would otherwise end up in the landfills. 

Flames did not extinguish that mission. 

"We're going to come back and be stronger than ever is really what I want folks to know," Preston said.

You can contact Camp Small to buy rare varieties of wood and firewood. It should be open to the public again in roughly two weeks.

Preston said the city's downed trees are being taken off-site, but they will be brought there again soon.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.