Initial reports of the massive fire in Baltimore’s Woodberry neighborhood Thursday referred to the blaze as a brush fire. But the community initiated with Camp Small, the city’s nationally recognized street tree recycling program, know the acres of logs likely claimed by the fire were much more than waste.

Here’s what you need to know about Camp Small.

It’s more than junk

Nestled at the elbow of Interstate 83 and Cold Spring Lane, Camp Small was for decades a traditional dumping ground for Baltimore’s tree waste. Managed for a time by the Department of Public Works and later the Department of Recreation and Parks, city crews piled trees cut from Baltimore’s streets and parks on the site as well as other junk material like large branches.

In a city with a substantial amount of trees like Baltimore, that waste adds up. Camp Small processes about 9,000 tons of material annually — about 90% of it street trees. Logs are piled in numerous rows, some as tall as 30 feet high, and line the length of the facility’s narrow driveway — an arrangement that made conditions challenging for firefighters Thursday.

In 2016, Camp Small became part of the city’s zero-waste initiative, a sustainability and recycling program. With the help of a grant from the city’s Innovation Fund, the site initially produced and sold compost. Today, Camp Small makes and sells mulch, firewood, whole logs and its premium product: lumber. As the operation expanded, a small crew began milling lumber on-site with portable saws. A kiln was installed for drying the wood.

Camp Small has a following

Unlike commercial logging operations, Camp Small’s products are restricted to the trees planted in Baltimore. That means most of the wood offered is maple, oak or ash. Rot-resistant oak has the most outdoor applications, while ash is a good woodworking lumber that can be used for furniture, baseball bats and tool handles. Maple, which is Baltimore’s most prevalent tree, is favored by furniture and cabinet builders.

Furniture makers have zeroed in on Camp Small as an affordable source for products. Sandtown Millworks, which specializes in reclaimed wood furniture, is among the site’s customers. So is maker-space Open Works Baltimore.

Other customers come for less exclusive products. For $60 a year, people can chop and take home firewood offered by Camp Small’s WoodHawks program. Compost and mulch are also available. Wood chips from the city’s downed Bradford pear trees are available for people who smoke meat.

Camp Small has saved Baltimore money — and been recognized for it

Before Camp Small got its grant from the Innovation Fund, the city paid contractors to come to the site periodically to grind and chip the junk wood. The cost of that removal was slashed by more than half thanks to Camp Small’s recycling efforts. The city has also saved money on products like mulch that would have otherwise been purchased.

Camp Small’s showcase project at the renovated Cahill Recreation Center would have cost thousands of dollars if the wood was purchased on the market. The camp’s staff salvaged logs, many of them valuable walnut, from a site near Camp Small that was cleared by Baltimore Gas and Electric Company. The wood was milled into paneling that now lines the walls at the recreation center. Camp staff said at the time the wood would have cost $100,000 on the market.

While little-known locally, Camp Small has received kudos on a national scale. The U.S. Forest Service recognized the camp’s work in a case study with its Vibrant Cities Lab. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance wrote about the camp’s work in 2017. Camp Small officials have consulted with other cities such as Philadelphia; Denver; Portland, Oregon; and Atlanta on how to get similar programs off the ground.

Camp Small was at one point a military camp

The name Camp Small dates back to the Civil War when the area was designated as an encampment to guard the approach to the Bolton Street Station on the Central Railroad, according to Matthew Crenson, a professor emeritus at the Johns Hopkins University.

The camp and many others like it sprung up across Baltimore, particularly in city parks, while the city was under military rule by the federal government. Some of the camps were used as forts, like one situated on Federal Hill. Others were used to house soldiers who were stationed in the area.

It’s unclear whether the camp is salvageable

Unlike commercial loggers, Camp Small relies on trees harvested only if they have fallen or if they are sick and dying. That makes its stock more difficult to replenish.

Officials have not yet offered estimates on the scope of the damage to the wood supply, but some good news has emerged. Camp Small’s workshop and equipment inside were undamaged by the fire. So was a kiln outside the structure.

Andrew Kleine, Baltimore’s former budget director who created the Innovation Fund, said the Camp Small grant was the smallest the fund ever awarded. It was also his favorite. Kleine said he was gutted when he learned of the fire Thursday night.

“My first thought was ‘Oh my god, was that the end of Camp Small?’” he said. “But I don’t think it will be. You need a place to deal with tree waste. But it’s probably going to be a long, hard road to get it back where it was.”