Fire Department Apologizes for Childish Baseball Field Move
A firefighter's actions at a baseball field are forcing his department to issue an apology.
A team called the Thunderbolts was taking batting practice at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. A player hit a home run over the left field fence, which happens to be right next to Silver Spring Fire Station 16.
The ball traveled beyond the field's fence and over netting before hitting one of the fire trucks at the station.
The fire captain was so angry about the ball hitting the truck that he took matters into his own hands. He used said truck to douse the field in water, forcing the game to be canceled.
The incident was caught on video, and the team stood its ground by explaining that it had a right to be on the field.
Montgomery Co Fire is apologizing for an incident caught on video shared by Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts baseball players who say a firefighter at a station near Blair High sprayed the field, forcing them to cancel a game after a ball went over the fence & hit a pickup truck pic.twitter.com/vXWHWRwIiv
— Tom Roussey (@tomroussey7news) July 18, 2025
"Personnel from the fire department have been told consistently by park staff that that is a dangerous area to park and leave your vehicle," said Dick O'Connor, the Thunderbolts' founder and director.
The fire department then issued a statement on the captain's behalf, taking responsibility for ruining the game that was about to begin,
"We want to express our sincere apologies to the players, teams, Cal Ripken League, and all fans and families impacted by this disruption," the department said.
"We understand how important this venue is to the community and especially to the young athletes who look forward to these events. While the fire station and ballfield have long shared this space as neighbors, we recognized that incidents like this can have a real impact — and we take that seriously."
It appears that the situation has been resolved, even if the fire captain needed to learn an embarrassing lesson about leaving the truck near a position where it could be struck by an errant fly ball.
The Thunderbolts will likely look to play their game at a different time, and hopefully on a day where they don't have to potentially deal with the fire captain who ruined their last trip to the baseball diamond.
We'll see how things turn out - and if the baseball team and fire department can truly co-exist.