Long Island brush fire 100% knocked down; Burn bans issued by Gov. Kathy Hochul
The massive brush fire that impacted the East End of Long Island is no longer burning in Westhampton, but Forest Rangers worked all day on Sunday to contain the perimeter and check for hot spots.
Smoke billowed high in the sky on Saturday, visible as far away as Connecticut, as nearly 100 fire departments and the National Guard battled the blaze, which police said impacts 400 acres, an area two miles long by a mile wide.
Worried about gusty winds and dry conditions continuing Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul issued burn bans for Long Island, New York City and the Hudson Valley, adding the National Guard has eight helicopters on standby to assist in firefighting missions.
Cause of wildfire under investigation
Officials pronounced the Westhampton pine barrens fire 100% knocked down, but do have concerns about flare-ups. Rangers worked Sunday to create a containment perimeter.
"The weather is still a very significant concern and a threat to us. We were hoping for some moisture to come in to help us. It's not looking like that in the very near future," said Lewis Scott, an assistant chief with the Westhampton Fire Department.
The fire began Saturday in Center Moriches and then suddenly in four other locations. The Suffolk County Police Department has teams combing through surveillance cameras to determine if it was arson.
"Not necessarily, because of the winds yesterday and the fact that it's so dry," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said. "It's possible an initial fire jumped from spot to spot to spot. We are going to get to the bottom of it. If there is something nefarious, we are going to find that out."
Two firefighters were injured battling the fires, including one with burns to his face. The other had a head injury, officials said. Both were released from the hospital.
"The fire burned all around us," one business owner says
Mark Cirillo took stock of how incredibly close he came to disaster, saying he saw the giant plume of smoke blowing toward his business Autogate Systems and then raging flames surrounding the buildings on three sides. Yet, remarkably, his main building survived.
"It just came right over the building almost like a wave, an orange wave, and I thought I was going to lose the whole place," Cirillo said. "The fire burned all around us, all three sides, and no one was hurt, so, yeah, we are lucky."
Another building on his property is one of just two damaged by the entire inferno. Officials say no homes burned, crediting volunteer firefighters from across Long Island and the New York National Guard for dumping water on the pine barrens blaze, which was fueled by strong winds and dead trees ravaged by the southern pine beetle.
"Almost 90 volunteer departments converged in this area to insure life and property was protected, to insure this fire did not spread beyond the 600 acres where it had been," Rep. Nick Lalota said.
"This was a very big fire that could have created big problems if not for all of us coming together to solve it and address, and it's still a concern," Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said.
"Thank goodness we had a tremendous response"
To many who live in the area, it was a frightening flashback to a 1995 fire that jumped Sunrise Highway. A cause was never found.
"Big threat to the community, very unnerving. Thank goodness we had a tremendous response," Westhampton Beach Village Mayor Ralph Urban said.
The pine barrens is considered a fire-dependent ecosystem, which means the dead section of the forest will regrow quickly, but the immediate concern is the possibility of embers reigniting. That's why fire crews are still assembled.
