Multiple Wildfires Break Out on Long Island, Prompting Highway Closure
The New York Times
An official said that dozens of agencies were fighting multiple fires on Saturday. At least one firefighter was injured.
Multiple wildfires broke out on Long Island on Saturday amid high-risk fire conditions of low humidity and gusty winds, forcing the closure of sections of a highway in Suffolk County and drawing the response of dozens of agencies.
At a news conference on Saturday evening, Ed Romaine, the Suffolk County executive, said that one firefighter was hospitalized with second-degree burns to the face. Two structures also burned in the fire, he said.
“We maximized our firefighting capabilities to stop this fire from spreading and then we tried to contain it,” Mr. Romaine said. “But it is not under control as I speak.”
Mr. Romaine added that he did not expect the fire to be fully out until Sunday because of the high winds.
The fire in the Westhampton area was roughly 50 percent contained by Saturday evening, Rudy Sunderman, the Suffolk County fire coordinator, said at the news conference.
Mr. Romaine said in a statement earlier that more than 80 agencies were involved in fighting three fires in eastern Long Island.
