LI Brush Fire 'Fully Contained And Extinguished': Fire Chief

WESTHAMPTON, NY — As of Monday night at 6 p.m. Westhampton Beach Fire Department Chief Lawrence Saccente deemed the brush fire originating on Sunrise Highway in Westhampton Beach on Saturday — now known as the Westhampton Pines Fire — to be "fully contained and extinguished."

All local, county and state firefighting units and assets have completed their respective tasks, he said.

"Once again, the Westhampton Beach Fire Department would like to thank all of those agencies, organizations and community members who assisted and/or supported us in bringing this incident under control. We are grateful to them all," Saccente said.

Suffolk County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services Commissioner Rudy Sunderman told Patch on Monday night: "We are 100 percent contained in Westhampton and 100 percent in Eastport.DEC forest rangers will be patrolling the area throughout the week."

The raging brush fires in Westhampton were likely started by people trying to make s'mores in their backyard, police said Monday.

According to Suffolk County police, residents of a home on North Cozine Road in Manorville attempted to start a fire to make s'mores at about 9:30 a.m. on March 8 and were unable to get it lit due to the wind; they put cardboard on it in a continued attempt to ignite, which was unsuccessful.

At about 10:15 a.m., 911 was called because the backyard was on fire from the prior fire attempt, police said. The Center Moriches Fire Department extinguished the fire, police said.

Detectives believe embers from that fire had unknowingly spread, police said.

At 12:57 p.m., a fire was reported on the south side of Sunrise Highway, approximately 1/8 of a mile away from the original location, police said. Within a short time, additional fires were reported on Chapman Boulevard and Route 111, police said.

Detectives believe the origin of these fires stemmed from the initial backyard fire on North Cozine Road, police said.

"It’s believed strong winds spurred additional fires from embers leading to the brush fires. Police are continuing to speak with witnesses and investigate tips," Suffolk County Police said, adding that the cause of the fires has preliminarily been ruled accidental.

But, Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore said the town hasn't concluded that the s'mores theory is the final determination. She said that, per the town fire marshal's office: "We are aware of that as one of the possible causes or theories but we have no arrived at any conclusion at this time. There is a lot of information and analysis to be considered, and other theories that must be conclusively rules out, before a solid and final determiation can be arrived at."

The fires were fully knocked down and more than 60 percent contained, Rudy Sunderman, commissioner of Suffolk County Fire Rescue and Emergency Services, said Monday morning.

"We will be starting back up at 7 a.m. working again with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, county's heavy equipment, local fire departments, some drone supports, the mobile command unit and forest rangers to continue containment and address any hot spots," he said.

On Sunday, Governor Kathy Hochul, based on the ongoing increase in fire risk from gusty winds and lower relative humidity, directed the New York State DEC to implement an immediate burn ban for Long Island, New York City, and parts of the Hudson Valley until the annual statewide ban on residential brush burning takes effect on March 16.

"New Yorkers are facing increased wildfire risks due to the combination of dry conditions and strong winds," Hochul said. "As we work tirelessly to combat the fires in Suffolk County, we must all do our part to prevent further damage."

She added that she instituted the burn ban "to protect our communities, and our state resources are fully mobilized to support fire suppression efforts."

The multi-regional burn ban prohibits the starting of outdoor fires for purposes of brush and debris disposal, as well as uncontained campfires, and open fires used for cooking. Backyard fire pits and contained campfires less than three feet in height and four feet in length, width, or diameter are allowed, as are small, contained cooking fires.

Elected officials gave a media briefing in Westhampton Sunday. At that time, the fire was 100 percent knocked down and about 22 percent contained.

"We are working on containment at this time alongside the Westhampton Beach Fire Department, the NYC Department of Environmental Conservation, and Suffolk County FRES," Sunderman said.

Sunderman said about 600 firefighters and emergency personnel battled the blaze.

All agreed that Sunday's high winds and hotspots could lead to another blaze; rangers were seen dousing small fires that broke out Sunday.

Suffolk County Executive Ed 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 Saturday'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 Saturday, he said.

Two firefighters were injured, one with burns to the face, but both are home recovering now, Romaine said.

Westhampton Beach Fire Department 2nd Assistant Chief Lewis Scott said, of two commercial buildings damaged, one sustained "significant" damage and the other was "pretty much fully destroyed."

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico said if the winds had headed southwest, the fires could have spread toward populated areas with homes and businesses. "It would have been a very different fire," he said.

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

Romaine also noted that so often, people are "so focused on the issues" confronting the nation, they forget that in times of crisis, "we can come together."

When the fires broke out Saturday, Romaine said he had calls from both sides of the political aisle, including outreach from President Donald Trump, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Sunday's results, Romaine said, "shows us we can do it, if we work together."

Rep. Nick LaLota added: "What a difference a day makes." LaLota said as the fires raged, "the nation was looking at us," with calls coming in from across the country. He, too, said the efforts crossed all party lines as all united to extinguish the blaze; he credited the firefighters and response agencies.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said on Sunday that 25 detectives were investigating the cause of the blaze. He said the detectives were investigating every 911 call and utilizing drones in the effort.

When asked if that fact that there were four separate fires that broke out at around the same time could indicate arson, Catalina said the high winds could have caused the fire to spread. He added, though, that all avenues were being investigated.

Southampton Moore said emergency crews resumed operations Sunday to address the brush fires. "We are happy to report that other than some small hotspots there is no significant visible fire," she said. "There are hotspots and smoldering areas being addressed and emergency management is utilizing drones and air assets to identify these areas to direct response. All roads are currently open."

Residents are asked to stay tuned to updates; an outdoor recreational fire ban and state of emergency are still in effect, Moore said.

Acting NYS DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said the Pine Barrens by nature are "fire-dependent" and should regenerate quickly; she added due to the wind, so far, air quality has not been an issue.

She and the county executive discussed southern pine beetles. While she said they did not directly contribute to the brush fires this time, Romaine said they post a major concern and lead to hundreds of trees being cut down. "They're killing the Pine Barrens; it's a grave concern," he said.

As of Sunday morning, there were "six fire departments out, EMS crews on standby, and Suffolk County agencies working with the state departments," Sunderman told Patch.

Hochul declared a state of emergency in response to the brush fires that raged in Suffolk County Saturday.

"We are deploying resources as quickly as possible, and I have mobilized our agencies, the National Guard and the State Police to provide air and ground support to ensure we keep our Long Islanders safe," Hochul said. "I’ve declared a state of emergency to secure resources immediately. This is an evolving situation, and air quality is a concern — New Yorkers need to monitor the latest emergency alerts and prepare to evacuate if necessary."

To that end, Hochul said she was shipping 100,000 N95 masks Sunday.

State stockpiles are staffed and ready to deploy emergency response assets and supplies as needed, Hochul said.

In addition, New York State Park police and park personnel were on alert and closely monitoring conditions. Staff were on fire watch at Wildwood, Brookhaven, Hither Hills and Napeague State Parks. Park police were assisting with traffic control along Sunrise Highway. Regional emergency management staff are assisting at the command post.

Romaine, at a press event in Westhampton Beach Saturday, thanked all fire departments as well as elected officials across Long Island and the state who responded.

"Our problem is the wind, it's driving this fire," Romaine said at the time. He said the fire started about 1 p.m. in Center Moriches and then broke out into a major event near Gabreski Airport, where it "jumped the road" County Road 31, north of Gabreski Airport, and continued to head east, still burning, toward Quogue.

Also onhand were Southampton Town Supervisor Moore, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Panico, New York State Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni, Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina, and Rudy Sunderman, commissioner of the Suffolk County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services, as well as local county legislators.

Moore said a burn ban was issued right after the fire started.

High winds whipped the area Saturday, contributing to the fire's rapid spread; Long Island was under a wind advisory until 6 p.m. with gusts of up to 50 miles per hour forecast.

On Sunday, Hochul also gave an updated on the state's response to the fires: DEC forest rangers and emergency management and operations personnel were on scene, coordinating with Westhampton Incident Command on firefighting efforts and potential aviation bucket drops. Rangers were on the ground to assess impacted areas and help fight the fire and are working with DEC operations crews to enhance fire containment with heavy equipment mobilization.

The State Department of Transportation provided two bulldozers, two operators and a supervisor to assist with ongoing cleanup efforts in Suffolk County. The New York National Guard had eight helicopters on standby for firefighting missions. Five helicopters, three UH-60M Black Hawks and two CH-47F Chinook helicopters — were on standby at the Army Aviation Support Facility at Long Island MacArthur Airport. The CH-47s are normally based in Rochester. They can carry firefighting buckets holding up to 2,000 gallons of water. The buckets employed by the Black Hawks carry 660 gallons of water. Another three UH-60M Black Hawks were on standby at Albany International Airport.

On March 8, three UH-60M Black Hawk Army National Guard helicopters and one HH-60W Jolly Green II Air Guard helicopter flew 44 drop missions during the day. The Army National Guard helicopters, based in Ronkonkoma, flew 16 drop missions. The Air National Guard helicopter based right next to the fire at F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, flew 28 drop missions.

Two New York Air National Guard HC-130 Combat King II search and rescue aircraft flew for nine hours, acting as an airborne command and control station during the missions. Sunday morning, the National Guard helicopters were on standby, Hochul said.

Also, New York State Police unmanned aerial system "drone" teams provided live monitoring of the fires. Other state police aviation assets were on standby and ready to assist.

Wildfires, often called forest fires, damage thousands of acres of natural resources almost every year in New York, Hochul said. In an average year, New York State sees approximately 1,400 acres total burned in wildfires.

Violators of the state's open burning regulation are subject to criminal and civil enforcement actions, with a minimum fine of $500 for a first offense. To reduce fire danger, residents are encouraged to remove leaves and debris from areas close to their homes. Since 2009, DEC enforces the annual brush burning ban from March 16 through May 14 to prevent wildfires and protect communities during heightened conditions for wildfires.