Firefighters say the wildfire they’re trying to contain along the border between New York New Jersey will spread further as they’re facing exhaustion.
Firefighters said they managed to protect several neighborhoods over the weekend from the fire, which has now grown to about 5,000 acres, state park rangers said.
Officials told News 12 that because of the terrain and the wind, full containment of the fire will be difficult.
An EMS unit from Monroe arrived with a special all-terrain vehicle Monday to bring to the edge of the fire’s hot zone to provide water, food and other aid to firefighters coming out of the hot zone.
Several families voluntarily evacuated once the smoke began to fill their homes.
“When the smoke got too thick for our 6-year-old, we just decided to flee once we saw ash coming down on our yard and our neighborhood,” Scott Barman said.
First responders are expecting the fire to grow over the next day due to high winds, which might even be strong enough to ground helicopters being used for aerial water drops.
“We’re getting tired,” said Forest Ranger Bryan Gallagher, of the State Department of Environmental Conservation, with a sigh at Monday’s press conference.
Gallagher says he is glad surrounding agencies with fresh first responders are still responding to provide mutual aid.
He said the current crews are managing, but they need more manpower.
“We’re thin right now,” he said. “We’re protecting the structures we need to protect and we’ll see what happen in the coming days. We still have more resources coming in.”
Gallagher said firefighters know where the fire started, near a trail entrance on the New York side of the border.
They do not yet know how the fire started because it has not been safe enough bring fire investigators to the scene.
