(Rightallegiance.com) – A young New York State employee, 18-year-old Dariel Vasquez, tragically lost his life on Saturday while fighting a wildfire in Sterling Forest, Orange County. Vasquez, an aide with the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Department, was assisting in fire mitigation efforts when he was fatally injured, according to a statement from state police. An investigation is ongoing.
Governor Kathy Hochul expressed sorrow over the tragedy. “I am deeply saddened by the passing of one of our New York State Parks employees while responding to a wildfire in Orange County yesterday,” she said Sunday. “My prayers go out to his family, friends, and coworkers during this difficult time.”
The wildfire in Sterling Forest is one of several ongoing blazes affecting the Northeast, where weather conditions remain warm and dry. As of Sunday evening, 11 million residents were under fire alerts, though some began to expire as an anticipated weather front promised light rain across parts of New York, including the New York City metro area, the Lower Hudson Valley, and the New York-New Jersey Highlands.
Since the beginning of October, New York State has experienced 60 wildfires, consuming over 2,100 acres, according to Jeremy Oldroyd, a state forest ranger. In Orange County, flames reached alarming heights over the weekend, prompting County Executive Steve Neuhaus to update residents via social media on Sunday evening.
“The situation has gotten a lot more difficult,” Neuhaus said in a video posted to Facebook, with towering flames visible in the background. “This was not on fire a half-hour ago.” Neuhaus shared that he had requested state resources and was in contact with federal officials regarding the critical conditions in Greenwood Lake, a village in the New York-New Jersey Highlands, situated about 55 miles from New York City.
Greenwood Lake is part of the Town of Warwick, which released a statement detailing that voluntary evacuations were underway on one road, power had been shut down as a safety measure during a controlled burn, and another local road was restricted to one lane for residents. Local fire teams, in conjunction with the New York Fire Service, are conducting “proactive burns” to remove undergrowth and prevent the Sterling Forest fire from spreading further.
The Sterling Forest blaze also impacted Passaic County, New Jersey, where it has been identified as the Jennings Creek Wildfire. By Sunday night, the fire had scorched over 3,000 acres and was only 10% contained. An investigation is underway to determine its cause. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service reported that 25 structures were under threat, and Chief Bill Donnelly noted that containment efforts could stretch into the week.
“We may not actually get this done today, possibly not even tomorrow,” Donnelly remarked on Sunday, “but hopefully by the end of the week we can secure our control lines and make sure the fire stays where we want it to.” In better news, another Passaic County wildfire—Cannonball 3—was fully contained by Sunday night, having burned through 181 acres. This fire’s cause is also under investigation.
In nearby Jackson Township, New Jersey, authorities detained a man accused of igniting another blaze by firing shotgun ammunition behind a berm at a rifle club. The suspect now faces arson charges, as well as firearms-related violations, according to the forest fire service.
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service reports that, since October 1, its teams have responded to 537 wildfires, which have collectively scorched more than 4,500 acres in the state. A regional smoke-triggered air quality alert was in effect for New York’s Orange and Putnam counties on Sunday night, with an air quality advisory issued for the broader New York City metropolitan area, as well as the lower and upper Hudson Valley regions. Pollution levels in these areas could potentially exceed an Air Quality Index value of 100, the National Weather Service warned.
Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, a brush fire has taken hold in Lynn Woods Reservation, a forest park in Essex County. The city of Lynn announced that the park will remain closed until further notice due to ongoing risks. Drone footage from the site shows clouds of smoke billowing as firefighters work to contain the flames. In a public statement, the city warned that “falling trees, air quality, and the threat of additional fires continue to pose significant dangers to the public.”
While Northeast fires rage, a change in weather is expected to bring some relief. Showers were anticipated to begin Sunday evening and continue overnight, though rainfall is forecast to be light, with totals between one-half and one inch. Still, the National Weather Service’s forecast for Orange County, New York, suggested that the “ongoing brush fires … should get mitigated to some degree with a wetting rain overnight.”
In Philadelphia, where this weather system is expected to end a record dry spell, the 42 consecutive days without measurable precipitation have far surpassed the city’s previous record of 29 days, which stood since 1874.