Firefighters are continuing to push a 5,000-acre wildfire in the Greenwood Lake area away from homes and into state parkland. As of Tuesday, firefighters remain in neighborhoods and helicopters carrying hundreds of gallons of water can be seen flying overhead near Cliff and East Shore roads.
Neighbors describe the area as “ground zero” for the firefighting efforts. The neighborhood is where officials say people evacuated Sunday night, as they lost power and flames got dangerously close to about a dozen homes.
“It was terrifying. We haven’t slept probably more than a few hours in the last couple of days. They saved our homes without a doubt,” says resident Jen Woodhouse.
Firefighters were able to hold the fire from spreading to nearby homes through a controlled burn in a wooded area that was previously damaged during a microburst in May and downed many now-burned trees.
Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the area Tuesday to see the conditions and spoke at a news conference at the village firehouse.
“The issues we face are very dire. This has been a challenge for us,” says Gov. Hochul. “We had a little bit of rain over the last 48 hours but not enough to extinguish the fires and unfortunately, there’s no significant rainfall predicted in the immediate forecast.
Hochul says nearly 400 first responders from across the state are fighting the blaze and working in 12-hour shifts to avoid exhaustion. As of Tuesday, the fire is still burning on the border of New York and New Jersey.
“Volunteers last night, with the forest rangers, created another line in the woods and prevented it from getting any closer to Wah Tah Wah Park,” said Orange County Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Pete Cirigliano.
At its worst, residents say smoke from the wildfire made it unbearable to breathe and ash came down like rain.
Authorities say no homes in New York are currently at an immediate at-risk level. A level 2 drought watch is currently in effect along with a statewide burn ban.
“The threats are too great,” says Hochul. “We cannot have our resources directed to smaller fires. We need all hands on deck to fight the fires we have right here.”
Hochul says there are 15 simultaneous wildfires in different parts of the state. The wildfire in Orange County is the worst the state has seen since 2008.
