After Devastating Westhampton Brush Fire, Pine Beetle Symposium Held

RIVERHEAD, NY — After a devastating wildfire ripped through the Westhampton area in March, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine will be hosting a symposium Wednesday on invasive Southern pine beetles, which he said he believes were a factor in the blaze.

According to Romaine, the invasive species kills trees, leaving behind dead wood to fuel wildfires.

The Suffolk County Southern Pine Beetle Symposium will be held on Wednesday, April 23 at 9 a.m. at Suffolk County Community College’s Riverhead campus, in the Montaukett Learning Resource Center, Rooms 107/8.

The first-ever county-run symposium on the invasive pine beetle comes just two months after the March Westhampton wildfires and marks the 30th Anniversary of the 1995 Sunrise fires, he sadi.

Residents will be educated on topics related to the Southern pine beetle including public safety, fire prevention and mitigation, forest management efforts, beetle biology, homeowner education and more.

At a press briefing during the Westhampton blaze, Romaine said the fire, now called the "Westhampton Pines Fire," had encompassed 600 to 700 acres and brought back memories of the 1995 Pine Barrens fires that blazed for more than a week. Those fires, however, jumped the Sunrise Highway — something March's blaze did not do and for that, Romaine credited the 90 fire and EMT departments, all volunteers, who'd turned out in force to prevent the spread of the fire.

"We have so much gratitude," he said. Firefighters worked throughout the night, he said.

The downed trees in the area "fed the fire," Romaine said.