New York is under a statewide burn ban while emergency crews battle wildfires

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday that New York state is under a burn ban through the end of the month as wildfires burn in the Hudson Valley and unusually dry conditions prevail across the state.

“It is absolutely critical that New Yorkers avoid any outdoor burning at this time,” Hochul said at a news conference in the Hudson Valley. “The threats are too great and we cannot focus our resources on smaller fires.”

Although it has rained in some parts of the state in recent days, officials say the risk of wildfires remains high. The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for New York City, Long Island, the Capitol Region and the Hudson Valley, indicating a particularly dangerous combination of strong winds and dry conditions.

State data shows that much of New York is under drought watch, from Long Island up to the Hudson Valley and the Catskills. Other areas are experiencing unusually dry conditions.

“The conditions are just exceptionally dry,” said Samantha Borisoff, a climatologist at Cornell University’s Northeast Regional Climate Center. “Unfortunately, it’s just a recipe for forest fires to start, burn deeper, burn longer and be harder to put out.”

Hochul's biggest concern was a fire that has spread over 5,000 acres in New York's Orange County and New Jersey since last Friday. The fire, called the Jennings Creek Fire, had not been contained as of Tuesday afternoon, Hochul said.

Residents living near the fire voluntarily evacuated and no structures were at risk, Hochul said. An 18-year-old New York State Parks employee, Dariel Vasquez, was killed Saturday while fighting a fire, officials said.

Scientists have found that human-caused climate change is causing droughts to become more frequent and severe and fueling forest fires. This high level of fire activity is unusual for New York, said Jackie Bray, commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

“In an average year, about 1,400 acres burn in New York State,” Bray said. “In the last three days, this fire alone has burned 2,700 hectares, and just a second fire has burned 700 hectares.”

Several fires were burning in other parts of the state, including in Ithaca And in New York's Prospect Park. Elsewhere in the Northeast, recent fires have occurred in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

The high fire danger comes after months of unusually low rainfall across much of the Northeast. Some areas, such as Central Park in New York City and Philadelphia, experienced Record rainfall in October.