Multiple brush fires in NYC underscore the city’s drought watch
VAN CORTLANDT PARK, the Bronx (PIX11) — The severity of the recently issued drought watch was evident on Monday in the woods on the east side of Van Cortlandt Park, New York City's third largest park.
Four brush fires were fully in flame during the morning rush hour, causing traffic delays on the Major Deegan Expressway, which runs right next to the inflamed wooded parkland. It showed that the city's longest stretch without significant rainfall in generations can be dangerous.
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The scenes around the scorched areas were bleak: there were charred trees and stumps, gray ash covering acre after acre. Some of the burnt, fallen branches continued to smolder long after the initial fire response call had gone out at around 7:45 a.m.
One major challenge in fighting the flames was that there are no fire hydrants in or near the brush fires. FDNY Deputy Chief William McCormack, who supervised the fire response, explained how the mission was handled.
"We've had crews rotate out from filling up their tanks and then coming back," he said.
FDNY tanker trucks had to bring in water from the closest hydrants, fighting the flames until they ran out of their water supply, only to have another, full tanker truck take over and relieve the engaged tanker. Then the process repeated, over and over again, for about five hours, until the flames were mostly out.
The lack of water access certainly made it challenging to get the fires under control, but the main issue, here and generally, is the weather, which helped to let the fire ignite in the first place.
Drought watch: New Yorkers use 1 billion gallons of water a day
"The possibility [for fires] is high right now because we are in dry season," Chief McCormack said at a press availability near the scene. "A cigarette thrown from the highway could start a brush fire. We're starting to see them a lot more in the city right now."
Orville Thomas, a local resident who regularly hikes through the woods where the fires ignited, said that he knows the risks firsthand.
"Be mindful that there are a lot of dry leaves," he said, while walking through the woods on Monday, "and you could start a fire just like that," he said, snapping his fingers.
Just outside of the park, on its eastern end, Arman Imran, a local resident, and a friend were taking a smoking break, while leaning on Imran's car. They said that, as smokers, they're well aware of the fire risk, and take steps to reduce it.
"If you want to be smoking, or barbecue or other things," said Imran, "you have to do [it] outside, not go inside."
Not smoking or doing anything involving flame inside the park is not only dangerous, Imran said, it can generate harmful smoke and flying embers that threaten homes like his, near the edge of the park.
Kevin Kiernan, who said that he's been a regular visitor to the park for years, talked about how dry it is now.
"I haven't seen it this bad in a while," he said while walking his daughter's dog.
That message was the centerpiece of a news conference at City Hall on Monday. There, Mayor Eric Adams and commissioners of a variety of city agencies elaborated on the drought watch that the mayor has declared.
It means that reservoirs that serve the city, and are supposed to be 75% full at this time of year, are less than 66% full, they said. It shows why New Yorkers are being asked to save water now.
The fires also show the danger of low precipitation over the autumn season, so far. In addition to the four brush fires in Van Cortlandt Park, there was one more in parkland in Upper Manhattan on Monday, according to fire officials.
