Strong winds topple National Christmas Tree in Washington DC

National Park Service spokesman Bill Line holds onto his hat in the strong winds that felled the National Christmas Tree near the White House in Washington on Saturday (photo by Reuters).

story by MSNBC and AP



WASHINGTON — Fierce winds swept through the mid-Atlantic region Saturday, knocking out power to thousands, fanning fires and toppling the National Christmas Tree.

More than 100,000 customers lost power in Washington, Maryland, and Virginia at some point Saturday, but power had been restored to most of them by Saturday evening.

The National Christmas Tree is a Colorado blue spruce that was planted on the Ellipse, near the White House, in 1978. It was 15 years old and 30 feet tall when it was planted. It's now 47 years old and stood about 42 feet.

National Park Service spokesman Bill Line told The Washington Post that the tree fell just before 11 a.m. Saturday. He said a successor had already been picked and will be planted in coming weeks.

"I would say we're sad, but we knew this would happen," Line said to the Post, noting that previous National Christmas Trees have also been felled by winds, in part because they are not as sheltered from the elements as they would be in a forest.

The tree was scheduled to be mulched Saturday afternoon.

Interstate 95 in central Maryland was closed because of smoke from the fires, which also affected the interstate in northern Virginia. Authorities were reopening the freeway Saturday evening.

Strong winds, mild temperatures and extremely dry air were contributing to the blazes. No deaths or serious injuries had been reported Saturday.

In Prince George's County, Md., all off-duty firefighters were called to duty. One of the worst fires was at a mulch plant in Laurel, where piles of mulch burned out of control for hours. The blaze jumped into the median of I-95, prompting state police to shut down the highway.

Also in Prince George's, a brush fire believed to have started at a farm damaged as many as 20 structures, including homes, sheds and barns, said Mark Brady, a county fire department spokesman. Firefighters from northern Virginia were called in to assist because the county fire department was stretched so thin.
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