New Jersey
New York-New Jersey Wildfire update: Teen Forest Ranger dies fighting blaze
A New York Parks and Recreation worker died while battling one of several wildfires raging in New Jersey and New York amid dry conditions prompting air quality warnings in both states, authorities reported on Sunday.
New York State Police identified the state Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Department employee as 18-year-old Dariel Vasquez, who was among those battling the fire Saturday in Greenwood Lake, near the New Jersey border. Officials said a tree fell on him.
The New York Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Department released the following statement Sunday:
“At approximately 3:30 p.m. Saturday, an 18-year-old Wildland Fire Crew Member was fatally injured while working the fire line of a brush fire in Sterling Forest State Park near Greenwood Lake. The injury was the result of a fallen tree in the vicinity of the fire. Lifesaving measures were administered at the scene but were unsuccessful. The Crew Member, an employee of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation working in the Palisades Region, was later pronounced deceased by the Orange County Medical Examiner. The incident remains under investigation by New York State Park Police and New York State Police.”
A firefighter takes a break from battling a series of brush fires on November 09, 2024, outside of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. Much of the Northeast is experiencing drought conditions, leading to a series of brush fires in New York and New Jersey which have brought smokey haze to New York City and compromised the city’s air quality.
AFP/Getty Images
Newsweek has reached out to the New York Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Department Sunday afternoon for more information.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Forest Fire Service reported that the extensive blaze had covered over 3 square miles (about 8 square kilometers) near the border in Passaic County’s West Milford and Orange County, New York. Named the Jennings Creek wildfire, it posed a threat to two homes and eight buildings in the Long Pond Ironworks Historic District.
New Jersey officials reported that they have achieved 75 percent containment of a 175-acre (70-hectare) fire in the Pompton Lakes area of Passaic County, which was posing a threat to 55 homes, though no evacuations have been ordered.
Additionally, progress has been made on other fires in the region, including those in the Bethany Run area along the border of Burlington and Camden counties in Evesham and Voorhees townships, a fire along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs in Bergen County, and the Pheasant Run wildfire in the Glassboro wildlife protection area of Gloucester County.
On late Saturday afternoon, Ocean County prosecutors announced arson and firearms charges related to a 350-acre (142-hectare) fire in Jackson Township that began on Wednesday. The fire was ignited by magnesium shards from a shotgun round on a shooting range berm. Officials noted that the use of “incendiary or tracer ammunition” is prohibited in the state. The majority of the fire has been contained as of Friday, officials reported.
Health advisories were issued for parts of New York and northeastern New Jersey due to unhealthy air quality from the smoke, urging people, especially the young, elderly, and those with asthma or heart disease, to limit strenuous outdoor activities.
The fires come amid a prolonged drought in the region, which city officials say is worsening the risk of fire and hampering containment efforts. Zachary Iscol, New York City’s commissioner of emergency management, told The New York Times that region’s drought would continue over the next two months.
Update: 11/10/2024, 12:50 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with more information.
Update: 11/10/2024, 12:34 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to correct Daniel Vasquez’s employer and job description.