Video of Jennings Creek/Sterling Forest State Park wildfire aftermath provided by CNN Newsource. Video plays after advertisement.
More than 150 families were asked to voluntarily leave their homes in Warwick in Orange County over the weekend and go to a shelter in Greenwood Lake after the wildfire burning in Sterling Forest State Park jumped a fire break and moved closer to their houses. The fire’s progress was halted and the residents were allowed to return if they wished to do so.
Although the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said the fire was 88% contained as of late Sunday, the flames grew to cover an additional four or five acres, adding to the estimated 5,200 acres that have been consumed by the fire that started in New Jersey and spread to New York.
Firefighters from as far away as Montana and Colorado have joined with members from 152 fire departments in New York state that have sent at least 650 firefighters to Orange County. The military has provided two Black Hawk helicopters and two Chinook helicopters to join with New York State Police helicopters in conducting aerial water drops on the fire.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has taken the first step toward obtaining federal funding to help cover the costs of the firefighting operation. She has obtained a Fire Management Assistance Grant Declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This declaration starts a review process that could lead to FEMA grant assistance. The federal funds would reimburse the state and local governments for some of the costs related to fighting this fire ranging from labor costs to mutual aid operations.
The federal grants are based on four factors: threat to lives and property; availability of state and local resources; high fire danger conditions; and potential economic impact. The state must show the total eligible costs meet or exceed $1.85 million. Eligible costs include labor; travel and per diem; temporary repairs of damage caused by firefighting activities; mutual aid; and mobilization and demobilization.
The National Weather Service (NWS) on Sunday issued warnings of elevated fire concerns for the spread of existing fires and new fires across a wide area. NWS said relative humidity values between 20% and 30% and dry fuels will contribute to an elevated risk of fire spread for portions of eastern New York, including the eastern Catskills, Capital District, Mid-Hudson Valley, The Berkshires and east into Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The New York City Fire Department has set up a special task force to work on preventing brush fires and creating techniques to more effectively battle ones that break out. The FDNY fought 271 brush fires in the five boroughs between Nov. 1 and Nov. 14.
Flags on state buildings are being flown at half-staff Nov. 18 in honor of 18-year-old State Parks and Recreation aide, Dariel Vasquez., who was killed on Nov. 11, while supporting work to create a fire line at the Jennings Creek wildfire in Sterling Forest in Greenwood Lake.
