An elite group of FDNY hearth marshals, hearth safety inspectors, and drone operators is being pulled collectively to fight the gorgeous rise in brush fires throughout New York Metropolis exacerbated by the realm’s ongoing drought, the Each day Information has discovered.
The brand new job pressure shall be devoted to coordinating responses to brush fires and investigating every blaze to find out the way it began and the way related ones may very well be stopped earlier than they begin, Fireplace Commissioner Robert Tucker mentioned Sunday as he introduced the brand new group.
“By creating this job pressure, we’re taking actual motion to stop brush fires from occurring, placing protocols in place to maintain our members protected whereas they’re within the discipline, and dealing to determine the causes of those fires after they occur to maintain New Yorkers protected sooner or later,” Tucker mentioned as he once more known as on residents to be conscious of sparking brush fires because the drought continues.
As of Thursday, firefighters have responded to 271 brush fires throughout town within the first two weeks of November, from simply extinguishable flare-ups to huge blazes such because the one which destroyed 4 acres of Manhattan’s Inwood Hill Park on Wednesday.
Burning bushes collapsed round firefighters as they fought the blaze via the evening, lugging hose strains from the close by Harlem River.
Earlier within the month, firefighters in Brooklyn battled back-to-back blazes sparked in Prospect Park, which is able to want a number of seasons to recuperate, members of the Prospect Park Alliance mentioned.
The variety of brush fires this 12 months was considerably greater than in earlier years, FDNY officers mentioned, noting that, over the previous three years, firefighters often battle about 200 brush fires throughout your entire month of October, thought-about one of many driest months in New York Metropolis.
This 12 months town has seen extra brush fires in half the time. Practically a 3rd of them occurred within the Bronx, FDNY officers mentioned.
Jeff Bachner/New York Each day NewsFDNY Firefighters reply to East Drive in Prospect Park after NYPD aviation reviews brush on hearth Saturday. (Jeff Bachner for New York Each day Information)
Brush fires and wildfires have destroyed greater than 8 million acres of land throughout the U.S. this 12 months, based on the Interagency Fireplace Middle.
Members of the FDNY’s new job pressure will reply to brush fires within the 5 boroughs and assist arrange a plan of assault for the totally different FDNY firms based mostly on wind patterns, witness accounts, and eye-in-the-sky info from drones flown overhead.
Most significantly, the group will attempt to decide what sparked the blaze and the way it unfold so shortly — information that shall be pivotal to find methods to stop related brush fires from occurring once more, Tucker mentioned.
Practically all wildfires are sparked by people, based on the state’s Division of Environmental Conservation. Pitching lit cigarettes, burning particles, and different neglectful actions can simply spark an enormous blaze fueled by dry leaves and excessive winds.
The duty pressure will create risk-assessment fashions, determine spots the place brush fires may flare up, and push prevention suggestions.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Each day NewsFDNY Fireplace Commissioner Robert S. Tucker. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Each day Information)
On the similar time, they’ll be working coaching and preparedness workout routines for rank-and-file firefighters that simulate real-life brush fires to reinforce coordination with radios, cell apps, drone feeds, and check gear and techniques, mentioned FDNY officers.
The duty pressure can even be sharing their findings with the NYPD, town’s Workplace of Emergency Administration, and the Parks Division to allow them to put collectively plans to restrict the probabilities of different brush fires from erupting.
Because the drought continues, the FDNY is imploring people who smoke to ensure they correctly get rid of their cigarette butts as a substitute of merely flicking them away, and building crews who do “hot construction activities” reminiscent of welding shouldn’t do their work close to dry grass or leaves, FDNY officers mentioned.
Final weekend, Mayor Adams banned grilling in metropolis parks to stop attainable brush fires because the drought continues.
“We need the public to remain vigilant,” Tucker mentioned Wednesday.
Anybody wishing to study extra about stopping brush fires can go online to FDNYsmart.org.
