Courtesy of Nate Hughes.

Courtesy of Nate Hughes.

As Pope Francis wound his way toward Joint Base Andrews to head up to New York, plumes of thick, black smoke wafted up from Oxon Hill that could be seen for miles.

Firefighters battled the blaze at a playground in the 1400 block of Southern Avenue for 15-20 minutes after getting the call around 3:30, according to Prince George’s Fire and EMS spokesman Mark Brady. The blaze is now fully extinguished, but there isn’t much left of the playground. “It completely destroyed the equipment,” Brady said. No one was reported injured

Firefighters indicated that there was reason to believe that the fire was intentionally set, Brady added. Fire investigators have been called to the scene.

People reported seeing the smoke as far away as DCA and Nationals Park, likely because of the heavy duty plastic that is commonly used for modern playground equipment, Brady said.

[Insert unnecessary joke about the pope leaving and black smoke and stuff here.]

Filed Under: black smoke, fire, oxon hill, playground fire,