Central Park Brush Fires May Have Been Deliberately Set, Officials Say

A collection of brush and trash fires in a wooded space of Central Park that blanketed the Manhattan sky with thick smoke Tuesday appeared to have been intentionally set, officers mentioned.

Firefighters responded to a name about “quite a few fires” on the park’s north finish, within the 40-acre North Woods part close to one hundred and tenth Road, at round 1:30 p.m., officers mentioned. The fires had been extinguished by 3 p.m. with out accidents or injury to constructions, officers mentioned.

“We’re going to take the method that they had been deliberately set,” Jim Lengthy, a Hearth Division spokesman, mentioned, as marshals started their investigation into how the blazes began.

Chris LaCass, who lives throughout from the place the fires broke out, mentioned he occurred to look out the window round 1:15 p.m. and noticed plumes of smoke. He referred to as 911 after which recorded a video that he posted on Instagram.

He mentioned he might see flames and smoke coming from a number of factors within the park because the wind picked up.

“The plumes had been fairly unfold out,” Mr. LaCass, 49, mentioned in a cellphone interview. “It wasn’t simply in a single space.”

Firefighters had responded earlier within the day, at round 7 a.m., to the identical space, for a name a few trash hearth. That blaze was extinguished with out incident as nicely. Investigators had been analyzing whether or not it was associated to the fires later within the day.

A police spokesman mentioned that investigators had been canvassing the world for witnesses and safety cameras that may provide clues. Individuals who had been close by on the time instructed investigators that they had seen somebody lighting brush on hearth, the spokesman mentioned.

The North Woods is the most important of Central Park’s three woodland landscapes, in keeping with the Central Park Conservancy web site. It’s a in style space for wandering and chook watching.

A spokeswoman for the conservancy, the nonprofit group that manages the park, mentioned that employees members discovered that the fires had induced “no vital injury.” Floor cowl and pure mulch, together with leaves, had been burned, and there was “some charring of shrubbery,” however it was not anticipated to be everlasting, she mentioned. No bushes had been broken.

Mr. LaCass mentioned he was acquainted with the trail within the a part of the park the place the fires broke out, and he assumed that somebody had walked alongside it and set them. He mentioned he believed it was an intentional act, partly as a result of he had by no means seen a hearth within the park earlier than.

“My feeling is it’s very unhappy to see the numerous ways in which persons are appearing out within the metropolis,” he mentioned.

Ali Watkins contributed reporting.