Governor Hochul provides information about wildfires in New York State

Orange County Jennings Creek/Sterling Forest State Park

The main fire, which occurred simultaneously in New York and New Jersey, is currently estimated at 5,000 acres (including 2,500 acres on the New York side) and is 10 percent contained. This includes areas that are actively burning and areas that have already burned. Tragically, a New York State Parks employee died in this fire. A second 42-acre fire is located near West Mombasha Road and the Appalachian Trail and is contained. New York officials are working closely with New Jersey officials.

On Monday, 277 emergency services were deployed, including firefighters from 44 companies with 230 employees; Six law enforcement agencies with 28 personnel and four emergency responders with 19 personnel responded to the wildfire. They also include representatives from Orange County, the New Jersey Fire Service, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the New York State Police, the Department of Transportation and State Parks. Crews worked throughout the night to widen and reinforce existing fire lines between the fire and the Wah Ta Wah Park and Sylvan Park areas.

There are four helicopters in use, including two from the New York State Police. DMNA is providing two Blackhawk helicopters to support Monday’s response, in addition to the two NYSP helicopters already supporting. The two UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter buckets can carry 660 gallons of water. On Monday, helicopters dropped more than 100 buckets of water on the fire.

There were no mandatory evacuations, but 12 homes in the town of Warwick, Orange County, were voluntarily evacuated as a precaution.

Drinking water is available to the public at 18 Church Street in the Village of Greenwood Hall.

Fire in the White House

The Ulster County town of Denning fire is 95 percent contained at 630 acres. Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Forest Rangers are coordinating the response. Twelve rangers worked on the fire under the joint leadership of the Sullivan and Ulster County emergency dispatch centers and volunteer fire departments. Twenty fire departments provided equipment from engines, brush trucks, tankers, dozers and UTVs to over 185 firefighters.

NYC DEP Aviation and NYS Police Aviation provided assistance with bucket drops and aerial photography. Two buildings burned in Ulster County, an abandoned house and an outbuilding.

From 2007 to 2023, New York state experienced an average of 117 wildfires per year, with an average of 1,400 acres burned per year. The wildfire at Jennings Creek-Sterling Forest State Park in the town of Warwick, Orange County, exceeds the area burned by wildfires in New York state in 14 of the 17 years of available data, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). In 2008, the Overlooks Fire burned a total of 2,855 acres in the Ulster County city of Rochester. The largest wildfire in New York State was the Adirondack Fire of 1903, which lasted six weeks and burned a total of 600,000 acres.