Massive Brush Fire Burns Out of Control

Sun, 04/15/2012 – 21:01 — admin

On the afternoon of April 9th, a 2 small brush fires broke out on the grounds of Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton. The fires rapidly spread, fueled by excessively dry underbrush, low humidity and strong wind guests in excess of 40mph. Manorville Fire Department was one of the 1st arriving units on scene and quickly realized this fire was out of control and immediately requested additional brush trucks to the scene. The scene brought back memories of the four day long, 1995 Wildfire on Long Island which scorched over 5,000 acres of Pine Barrens. The two fires eventually combined into one large brush fire which in under two hours resulted in the response of 109 Suffolk County Fire Departments and 15 Departments from Nassau County. The Fire was battled with 30+ Brush Trucks, 20+ Water Tankers, and 70+ Engines. Crews worked tirelessly into the night battling the blaze and by 2:00am Tuesday morning, 3 sides of the fire had been contained with the head of the fire still burning approximately 1 mile long.

The Hagerman Fire Department sent their Brush Truck 12, Engine 3, and Fire police to the scene with all crews working until relieved at 2:00am Tuesday. Brush 12 worked the entire day in the woods battling the fire, while Engine 3’s crew was sent to protect and extinguish structures that were overwhelmed by the fast moving fire. Officials have named this fire the 10th largest brush fire in New York State burning over 1,100 acres, destroying 2 Houses and 1 Commercial Building, numerous storage sheds/garages, and vehicles as well as 1 Brush Truck. In the end took over 600 firefighters to finally contain and extinguish the blaze on April 10th, with crews still hitting hotspots into April 11th. A special Thank You Tribute to all the Firefighters who battled the blaze will be held on May 19th at the Brookhaven Amphitheater.

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