Brush fires, dry conditions have Long Island officials on high alert

Record dry conditions and a pair of weekend brush fires at local parklands have Long Island fire and parks officials on high alert, state and county authorities said.

The National Weather Service declared October the driest month on record since it began monitoring conditions at its climate center in Islip in 1963. Officials there tracked just 0.12 inches of rain in October, a significant drop from the previous low rainfall total of 0.18 inches in October 2000 and August 1964, according to meteorologist David Stark.

"It was not only the driest October on record, it was also the driest calendar month," Stark said.

The dry October follows a September that saw just 0.24 inches of rainfall, a record for that calendar month, the weather service said. And Stark warned that there are no signs of precipitation in the near future.

"There is nothing that we're seeing that's giving us any inclination that we're going to start to see a change now," the meteorologist said, noting that the seven-day forecast shows no real chance of rain.

That is bad news for parks and fire officials who have blamed dry grounds and wind gusts for helping to spark brush fires deep into woodlands at parks in both Nassau and Suffolk counties Saturday.

About 1,000 square feet of woodland burned at Hempstead Lake State Park late Friday night, George Gorman, the Long Island regional director of the New York State Office of Parks, said of the 11 p.m. fire. The Lakeview, West Hempstead and Rockville Centre fire departments responded to knock down the fire before it could spread to a more significant area of the 737-acre park, he added.

"It was a very difficult area to get to, deep into the woodlands at Hempstead Lake, and they did a terrific job in responding," Gorman said of the departments. "They each took a different area where they set up, and they responded in three different ways, and put it out."

Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services said a brush fire that burned earlier Saturday evening roughly 55 miles away at Manorville Hills County Park in Manorville was also in a hard-to-reach woodlands area. The Manorville Fire Department and six mutual aid companies battled the blaze for more than four hours from 5:50 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

Another brush fire, which required two departments to extinguish, was reported at about 2:40 a.m. Sunday at Horseblock Road and Long Island Avenue in Medford, Suffolk FRES said.

The U.S. Drought Monitor moved Long Island into "moderate drought" Thursday, the second of six levels ranging from no risk to "exceptional drought." The federal agency warned that a risk of ground fires and wildfires increases when a drought region reaches moderate status.

Stark said October is already a common time of year for brush fires.

"When you're factoring how dry it is and then the lower humidity, the dryness on top of what’s on the ground that's already dried out, the wind plays a huge role," Stark said of how the weather conditions play a role in the brush fires.

Gorman said state parks officials continued to monitor and treat hot spots at Hempstead Lake State Park on Sunday morning. It was the second brush fire at a Long Island state park in the past three weeks after 100 feet burned at Connetquot River State Park Preserve late last month.

Patrols are monitoring the state parks as a result of the conditions.

"There's increased risk," Gorman said. "So our staff has been patrolling to keep an eye out on all the woodland areas that we're concerned about."

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.