An overnight barn fire in Montgomery County, Maryland, destroyed three structures. (Courtesy Montgomery County Fire & Rescue) The cause of a barn fire that caused more than $2 million in damage in upper Montgomery County, Maryland, remains under investigation. “We’re here doing some follow-up trying to determine what happened,” said Lt. Matt Trivett, a longtime Montgomery fire investigator, said Tuesday. Montgomery County Fire & Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer said the fire started in a barn on Peach Tree Road near Barnesville Road around 11:45 p.m. Monday. The fire in the large barn that had two attached structures was “well involved” when firefighters arrived, Trivett said. There were no injuries and no animals inside. Piringer described the area as a “non-hydrant area” and said 65 firefighters responded. The fire started in the main barn, where round and rectangular bales of hay were stored. It spread to the two other structures that were used for storage, as well as tools and business and farm equipment. Trivett said the fire also spread to nearby fuel and propane tanks.
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Initially, Piringer said the barn was in the Dickerson area, but later said it was closer to Barnesville.
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Below is a map of the area where the fire occurred: [google_map latitude=”39.20872783960917″ longitude=”-77.36756021027576″ zoom=”14″ height=”300px” location_label=”Fire” dynamic_map=”false”]
Fentanyl seizures plummet as Trump administration shifts focus to immigration
WASHINGTON — Fentanyl seizures decreased by 39% during the first year of the second Trump administration after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shifted the Department of Homeland Security’s criminal investigations arm to conducting immigration enforcement, according to a report government investigators published Friday.
Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subagency of DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reported an “all hands-on deck” environment toward immigration enforcement began in January 2025, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General report.
“With ICE dedicating more staff hours to immigration investigations, staffing hours for fentanyl investigations declined,” the report said.
The report found that the hours dedicated to fentanyl investigations for fiscal 2025 declined by more than 250,000 hours, or 31%, compared to fiscal 2024.
