30+ NY counties at ‘high risk’ of wildfires as crews battle blazes: What you should know

Much of New York state is considered at “high risk” of fire danger as firefighters continue to battle wildfires in the Catskills and near the New Jersey border.
The Jennings Creek Wildfire — a 3,500-acre blaze burning in Orange County, New York and Passaic County, New Jersey — was 20% contained on Tuesday morning, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
The wildfire claimed the life of Dariel Vazquez, an 18-year-old New York Parks employee who was killed while fighting the fire in Greenwood Lake.
“I want to point out that this is the largest fire in our state since 2008. So, we have not seen anything of this scale,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday. “This is the time for people to be very, very careful about what they’re doing so we don’t contribute to the challenges that we’re dealing with right now trying to stop the spread. ”
The Jennings Creek Wildfire downstate isn’t the only big blaze impacting New York.
Firefighters are working to put out a wildfire that has burned 630 acres in the Catskills. The Whitehouse fire — which burned mountainous forests between Peekmoose Valley, Sundown, and Rondout and Ashokan reservoirs — was 95% contained as of Tuesday morning, Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger said in a news release.
A large section of New York stretching from the Adirondacks to Long Island is considered at high risk of fire danger. A red flag warning is in place.
Downstate isn’t the only part of New York considered at high risk of fire danger. (Fire danger is the measurement used to show the the likelihood of a wildfire starting, spreading and proving hard to control.)
Here are the New York counties listed as being at “high risk” of fire danger by the state Department of Environmental Conservation:
The Southern Tier, Finger Lakes and parts of Central New York and Western New York are considered at moderate risk of fire danger, according to the DEC.
A red flag warning is issued when “critical fire weather conditions” exist or are expected, the National Weather Service said.
In New York, a dangerous mix of strong winds, low humidity and an abundance of dry fuels (like fallen leaves) will create a “significantly elevated fire growth potential,” the weather service said.
A red flag warning has been issued for the Capital Region, Hudson Valley, part of the Catskills, and all of downstate — including New York City and Long Island. The warning will remain in place until 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12.
“Rapid fire spread if ignition occurs,” the weather service said in the warning. “Outdoor burning is not recommended.”
Crews held the fire lines of the Jennings Creek Wildfire overnight, the New York State Park Police said in a statement — successfully ensuring the blaze only made “negligible incremental gains.”
Volunteer firefighters and state DEC rangers expanded the exiting fire lines, protecting the areas of Wah Ta Wah Park in Warwick and Sylvan Park, officials said. No evacuations have been ordered and no structures are immediately considered at risk.
In New York, the DEC said the wildfire is primarily burning in Sterling Forest State Park, which borders New Jersey.
Volunteer firefighters from across New York are fighting the sprawling wildfire. On Monday, helicopters with the the New York State Police and New York’s Army National Guard dropped over 100 buckets of water on the blaze, according to park police.
“Today’s primary objectives are to hold and monitor the wildfire,” park police said. “Residents are encouraged to continue to abide by the current burn ban in effect to prevent additional wildfires from occurring.”
The Whitehouse Fire in Ulster and Sullivan counties is the largest in the Catskill watershed since records began in 1976, the Times Union reported. According to Gov. Hochul’s office, firefighters from at least 13 departments have worked with forest rangers to put out the blaze.
The Liberty Fire Department, a volunteer department based in Liberty in Sullivan County, is one of the departments battling the wildfire. The department shared photos on social showing fire burning barren trees on a mountainside on Peekamoose Road.
“It’s been a busy few days for Sullivan and the surrounding counties,” the fire department wrote on Facebook.
Investigators are working to determine how both the Jennings and Whitehouse wildfires started.
While the state Department of Health issued an air quality health advisory for the New York City metro area over the weekend, no advisories are currently in place.
Despite the wildfires, the air quality across New York state is considered good, the the U.S. Air Quality Index reported Tuesday.