Volunteer Firefighter Charged With Setting Long Island Brush Fire

A volunteer firefighter was charged with setting a brush fire on Long Island in New York, police said Wednesday.

What to Know About the Brush Fire

The 20-year-old Medford volunteer firefighter set a fire in a wooded area at around 3:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the Suffolk County Police Department said in a new release.

According to police, the fire damaged a car that was parked nearby.

The volunteer firefighter was arrested and was set to be arraigned Wednesday on charges of arson and reckless endangerment.

It wasn't clear if he had an attorney who could comment for him.

Northeast Wildfires

Fires have broken out in the Northeast recently amid dry weather conditions.

The states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island are all under Red Flag Warnings as New England continues to suffer from a rare autumn drought.

Meanwhile, a map by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) shows that the entire state is at risk of fires , ranging from "high" risk in the south to "extreme" risk in the north.

The fires have already claimed one life, and according to the NJFFS, the fire raging between New Jersey and New York is still only 20 percent contained.

On Sunday, the New York City metro area was under an air quality alert from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), warning that smoke from multiple wildfires across the state and in nearby New Jersey is elevating fine particulate matter to levels deemed "unhealthy for sensitive groups."

Meanwhile, part of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, was engulfed by a brush fire on Friday evening, which was brought under control by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY).

Speaking at a press conference FDNY Commissioner Robert S. Tucker commented that the fire had affected an "extremely dense" section of Prospect Park, adding that no adjacent structures had been affected.

What Causes Wildfires?

The National Park Service (NPS) says that almost 85 percent of wildfires in the U.S. are caused by humans, whether it be unattended campfires, the burning of debris, equipment use and malfunctions, negligently discarded cigarette buds or intentional acts of arson.

While climate change doesn't necessarily cause wildfires, it does exacerbate the hot, dry conditions that contribute to the frequency and severity of the fires.

"Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last two decades," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.

This includes reporting from The Associated Press.