By Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — New York City’s ongoing drought has sparked a record 215 brush fires in just the past two weeks, FDNY officials said Wednesday.
The number of brush fires this year was significantly higher than in previous years, FDNY officials said, noting that, over the last three years, firefighters usually battle about 200 brush fires every October in the entire month. This year the city has seen more brush fires in half the time, in the period from Oct. 29 to this past Tuesday.
“Due to a significant lack of rainfall, the threat of fast-spreading brush fires fueled by dry vegetation and windy conditions pose a real threat to our members and our city,” FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said Wednesday, imploring New Yorkers to take steps to reduce the chances of brush fires.
Nearly a third of these brush fires — 67 — have occurred in the Bronx, Tucker said.
The number includes a brush fire sparked by an Amtrak transformer near a Con Ed substation on the railroad’s Hell Gate Line on Tuesday afternoon, suspending Amtrak travel in both directions along the Northeast Corridor between Penn Station and New Haven.
Three cars were burned in the blaze, but no injuries were reported, FDNY officials said.
Queens had the second-highest number of brush fires in the past two weeks with 56 and Brooklyn was third with 51 blazes fueled by dry conditions and high winds, FDNY officials said.
Brooklyn saw two brush fires in as many days in Prospect Park this past weekend. On Saturday, a fire scorched a 2-acre wooded area as more than 100 firefighters, including special brushfire units, fought the blaze for nearly three hours.
Manhattan saw an estimated 24 brush fires over the last two weeks, the FDNY said. Staten Island had the least amount of fires with 17.
Smokers should make sure they properly dispose of their cigarette butts instead of simply flicking them away, and construction crews who do “hot construction activities” such as welding shouldn’t do their work near dry grass or leaves, FDNY officials said. “We need the public to remain vigilant,” Tucker said.
Over the weekend, Mayor Adams banned grilling in city parks to prevent possible brush fires as the drought continues.
Anyone wishing to learn more about preventing brush fires can log on to FDNYsmart.org.
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