A large, deadly wildfire continued to burn in Orange County along the New York-New Jersey border on Monday around Greenwood Lake, where fire crews were feeling stretched thin but more optimistic.
As crews continued to fight a wildfire that burns in New Jersey and the lower Hudson Valley, a number of Hudson Valley crews mobilized to aid the effort.
They were helped by about a quarter-inch of rain that fall during the overnight hours, giving firefighters a little bit of breathing room with a fire that has burned more than 5,000 acres — roughly 2,500 acres in New York and 2,500 acres in New Jersey.
Crews had about 20% of the blaze contained, and the focus on Monday was on a ridge where firefighters worked to create a line to stop the fire from advancing.
Multiple structures have been in danger at various points but no damage thus far. Forest rangers are optimistic after .25” of rain fell overnight. They’re confident of that the current forecast, they can establish a line protecting surrounding communities.
— Spencer Conlin (@SpencerReports) November 11, 2024
Resources from across New York state were converging on Greenwood Lake in Orange County, where mostly dry and windy conditions fueled a wild land fire since Saturday.
“It will get a little larger," New York Forest Ranger Bryan Gallagher said. "Some of the things we do when we fight these fires is we fight fire with fire.”
Thomas Howley, mayor of the village of Greenwood Lake, said, “In my 50 years of living here, this has been the most significant and probably the most potentially dangerous situation I’ve seen.”
While the fire was affecting mostly state park land, there are many homes and businesses nearby.
“The fire was pretty heavy over in this direction, the winds were coming towards us, so the fire resources were pretty limited,” said Matt Kiburz of Hewitt, N.J.
He and his business partner Troy Oswald own a fire truck they typically use on construction jobs.
“We hauled 62 loads of water," Kiburz said. "It holds 1,250 gallons, and we just went about 150 feet at a time, soaking down the woods, soaking down the leaves, the trees, trying to create our own fire line.”
Having experience as a former police chief, Oswald said it just felt right.
“These men and women are out here 24 hours a day, most of them are volunteers," Oswald said. "A lot of them are coming from all over New York and New Jersey, and they’re tired.”
A New York state park employee was killed over the weekend after a tree fell on him. Dariel Vasquez was 18.
“This is a very dangerous profession, very dangerous incident that we have here, and we try to do the best thing to mitigate as much of those hazards as we can," Gallagher said. "Our priorities are always life safety and for us, that includes our boots on the ground. We want to send our firefighters home at the end of the day, and then property comes next.”
The state forest service responded to nine fires last year impacting about 18 acres. This year, more than 60 fires have burned more than 3,400 acres.
On Monday morning, Warwick Supervisor Jesse Dwyer said in a social media statement that "the fire is not contained," but that rain in the area Sunday helped to slow the fire some and a mandatory evacuation is also not in effect. There were crews from more than 25 departments on hand to try and contain the fire.
Dwyer added that East Shore Road in Warwick is only for local traffic and would be limited Monday, but that the New Jersey portion of the road "is completely shut down. Choose an alternate route if traveling to work."
Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger said later Monday morning that firefighters battling the Whitehouse fire in the town of Denning "achieved 90% containment by nightfall yesterday" and that, with the work of crews from 18 departments deployed today, as well as some aid from the rain yesterday, "we expect significant progress toward 100% containment today."
Fire crews from both Columbia County and the Stuyvesant Fire Company have mobilized to aid in firefighting. Stuyvesant Fire Company No. 1 said it sent a five-person crew to Orange County, and is joining seven other departments to work a 12-hour firefighting shift.
Columbia County's Fire Coordinator Office said that a tanker/tender was deployed to the area of the fires Sunday, and will add six more firefighting vehicles to the fleet in the area Monday.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation's fire danger map has the entirety of Long Island, New York City and the Hudson Valley in the Moderate category, with the rest of the state in the Low category as of Monday morning. Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed "a multi-agency response" to Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties on Sunday, with an Air Quality Health Advisory issued for the NYC metro area.