Nearly 100 homes evacuated in Rockland County as crews battle massive wildfires

congers, new york — Massive forest fires rockland county With acres of land scorched Friday, the flames were so close that the sidewalls of the houses melted.

Around 2 p.m., the CSX train began sending sparks onto the tracks, officials said, and the sparks soon spread to the tall grasslands that make up the Anago bird sanctuary.

Dozens of fires broke out in three different towns across about 15 miles of track.

Sadly, many of the bird sanctuaries are now burned to the ground.

In Haverstraw, the fire spread across Highway 9 to the hillside behind Haverstraw Quarry. We could see a police helicopter trying to reach the hotspot with a fire water bucket.

Watch: Chopper 2 at Haverstraw wildfires

Officials said the fire in the Anago area fortunately burned out, but not before causing minor damage to several homes.

Firefighters work tirelessly to protect property and lives.

About 100 families voluntarily evacuated their homes as a result of these fires. Police officials said officers went door-to-door to let residents know there was danger in the area and help was available if needed.

“It moved quickly. We had almost every fire department in Rockland County work on it, but we also worked on two other fires in the north. The oldest resident who did not was 98. A one-year-old woman just on the edge of Alpine when the fire spread into her backyard, which was very small. There have been injuries. They are wearing very heavy canvas equipment on a very warm day, but thankfully there were no major injuries.

One firefighter was slightly injured.

View Nick Caloway’s report

Residents did their best to protect local property by watering their homes.

“Like I said, we got there quickly and they were watering everywhere, so we had a little patience. We were doing it all,” said Congers resident Sol de Leon.

Residents helped each other to stay safe and put out fires near their homes in thick black smoke.

“The trees were less than five feet away. Some had flames all over the inside of their trunks. Hold off the advance until you bring it,” De Leon said.

The flames just touched the edges of some homes, and one family’s cabin burned down.

Watch: Congressman Mike Lawler on Brush Fire

Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents New York’s 17th District, which includes Rockland County, said:

Officials say it could have been worse, but it was still a disaster.

“We are talking about the immeasurable cost of lost productivity due to the hundreds of thousands of dollars that each of these towns will cost and all the volunteer firefighters quitting their jobs and closing the towns. We have closed national highways and closed multiple national highways. We have been closed and closed roads in multiple towns and counties. This is an irreparable disaster and a major inconvenience for residents. No lives were lost, but it cost town and county emergency services a lot of money.

“Today is red flag day. Everyone knows it. CSX should know it if they are going to. , the results here were clear,” said Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

Officials say they plan to meet with CSX officials as soon as possible as they have genuine concerns that this could happen again.

CSX issued the following statement:

“At approximately 1:57 pm ET today, CSX was contacted by the Haverstraw Town Police Department to suspend train service due to wildfires near Gurney Avenue in Haverstraw, New York. We have inspected trains in the area and no problems have been reported and we will continue to work closely with first responders to reduce train traffic to allow for a safe response. We will keep it out of the area, and CSX is working with Rockland County officials to investigate.

Firefighters will check the hotspots Friday night, possibly through Saturday.

The town supervisor of Clarkstown said there are also many concerns about the dry and warm weather we are currently experiencing. rice field.

It wasn’t the only wildfire on Friday.

earlier in the day, Schools closed in Orange County fire Some have evacuated their homes, and in New Jersey West Milford wildfires burning since Wednesday Currently 65% ​​included.

In the Bronx, firefighters were seen blowing out wildfires by Pelham Bridge Road just after 1pm.

Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted that the state is providing much-needed resources to areas affected by wildfires.