Four separate wildfires blanketed Long Island’s East End with heavy smoke Saturday, prompting evacuations and threatening homes in both middle class communities and the wealthy Hamptons.
The situation is “catastrophic,” one resident told The Post.
One fire reportedly started after a car accident on Sunrise Highway, in which a vehicle caught fire and the flames were spread by gusty winds.
Flames and black smoke billowed over County Road 51 in Manorville, where the fire jumped across the highway shortly before 2 p.m. Additional fires were reported in the Pine Barrens and near Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton, shutting Sunrise Highway in both directions at Exit 58, authorities said. That’s the only access road toward the more exclusive parts of the Hamptons to the east.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said in a press conference that one person was taken to hospital with second degree burns on the face, and two homes had burned.
“The biggest problem is the wind,” he said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency, and said the National Guard helicopters were providing support to Suffolk County, while multiple state agencies were on the ground.
“We are in close communication with local partners on Long Island to coordinate assistance and make sure they have the resources they need to protect their communities,” Gov. Hochul posted on X.
Lisa DiMiceli, of Manorville, owns a pet boarding business and said West Hampton residents told her they were being evacuated and asked her to take their dogs as they fled.
“It looked like a nuclear bomb. It’s not under control at all. It was very scary,” she said.
The fire reached “probably about 100 feet high, if not more, but the wind is what really took it off,” DiMicelli said, adding “Right now the helicopter is still going over our house with big canisters and whatnot of water to drop it on the fire. “
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico posted video from a helicopter showing the scope of the blazes and the resulting smoke.
“Video from above of the massive wildfire in the pine barrens. Thank you to all of the firefighters and first responders fighting this blaze,” Panico wrote on Facebook.
Several fire departments were responding in a “large-scale coordinated countywide effort,” Southampton emergency management told Newsday.
For many residents the fire brought bad memories of another nightmare that happened three decades ago in the same area. The Sunrise Fire of 1995 scorched 4,500 acres of pine barrens and damaged about a dozen homes before it was put out by firefighters from across the state.
https://nypost.com/2025/03/08/us-news/brush-fires-erupt-on-long-island/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.