Long Island firefighters go to upstate Orange County to help fight wildfire

Long Island firefighters are encountering “extremely rough terrain” while battling a wildfire upstate that has burned more than seven square miles across New York and New Jersey, said Gerry Turza, chairman of the Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services Commission.

Turza briefed more than three dozen Suffolk firefighters at the county’s fire academy in Yaphank early Saturday morning ahead of their deployment to Orange County to help contain the Jennings Creek blaze. A total of 37 companies across Nassau and Suffolk counties have been sent to help fight the fire, which killed a state parks employee last week but is now mostly contained, fire officials said.

“This is a big lift,” Turza said. “We are extremely proud of the volunteers who stepped up.”

Nassau County Fire Marshal Mike Uttaro said during a phone interview that his firefighters have experienced hilly terrain as they work to help contain the fire. In one instance, he said the East Meadow Fire Department helped push back a fire that moved within 20 feet of a home.

Uttaro said Nassau County has been sending firefighters upstate in shifts since Wednesday morning.

“Most of what they’re doing is holding fire lines that have been established,” Uttaro said, referring to the term that describes the perimeter made around an active fire. 

Fire officials said 90% of the fire was contained on the New Jersey side of the blaze as of Friday evening. About 70% was contained on the New York side, according to officials. 

Judd Lincoln, a 23-year veteran of the Mattituck Fire Department, was among the firefighters who convoyed to Orange County. He has been on other mutual aid deployments during his career, including for Superstorm Sandy.

“Other departments have come and helped us at times, so we try to give back when we can,” Lincoln said.

Rudy Sunderman, commissioner of Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services, said 43 firefighters across eight companies descended on Orange County Saturday morning, joining two others that were sent Friday. Ten other Suffolk County companies have already been at the scene of the fire, and the volunteers have generally been working on 72-hour deployments, he said.

“Our goal is to help across county lines when needed,” Sunderman told Newsday in a phone interview Saturday afternoon. “At the same time, we’re ensuring that our county is protected here, as well.”

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for Long Island on Saturday as wind gusts and dry conditions elevated the risk of fire spread. The state Department of Environmental Conservation ranked Long Island as "very high” on its scale for risk of fires.

With AP

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ