A brush hearth ignited in Prospect Park Friday night, amid an ongoing drought throughout the town.
Fanned by robust winds, the fireplace rose to 2 alarms because the blaze unfold throughout a two-acre swath of the wooded space of the Nethermead close to the middle of the park round 6:40 p.m.
Greater than 100 firefighters, together with particular brush hearth items, fought the fireplace for practically three hours as FDNY drone operators sought out scorching spots overhead.
FDNY Deputy Chief Joe Duggan described the challenges firefighters confronted working within the dense, hilly space of the park at a press convention on the scene.
“We got our equipment and folks into position in a hilly, dense brush condition … An extremely inaccessible area” stated Duggan. “Conditions today are perfect for a brush fire.”
Mayor Adams joined FDNY officers at Prospect Park, the place he praised a passerby who alerted authorities to the city wildfire.
“We were extremely lucky when the passerby saw something but also did something,” stated Adams. “They notified FDNY and it was a quick response.”
The comb hearth comes lower than per week after the town issued a uncommon citywide drought watch in response to a historic dry spell.
Final month was the driest October on report, with the second-longest rainless streak in metropolis data courting again to 1869, officers stated.
Town was positioned below a crimson flag warning resulting from a excessive threat of fireplace which prompted quite a few brush fires in New York final evening together with a wildfire in New Jersey, in keeping with Commissioner of Emergency Administration Zachary Iscol.
“We’re asking New Yorkers: Don’t throw cigarettes on the ground and making sure as the passerby did today you’re recording any fires you see,” Iscol advised reporters at Prospect Park. “This is the new normal of extreme weather. It’s not something we were expecting but something we need to be prepared for.”
Initially Printed: November 8, 2024 at 10:14 PM EST
