Over 150 homes evacuated as wildfire risk persists across historically dry Northeast

An elevated risk for the spread of wildfires continues Monday as swaths of the Northeast grapple with blazes, winds and dry conditions — but respite may come later this week with some much-needed rain.

Parts of upstate New York, and the Big Apple, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, are at an increased risk of wildfire spread Monday due to northwest winds, minimum relative humidity and dry conditions.

Voluntary evacuations over the weekend of the town of Warwick, and Wah Ta Wah Park in Greenwood Lake, New York, helped firefighters tackle the Jennings Creek wildfire and helped protect at least 165 homes. Those evacuations remain in place and the state of emergency for Orange County has been extended. 

People who evacuated were encouraged to shelter at Greenwood Lake Middle School, which is shut Monday.

In New York, the risk is in place for Schenectady, Albany, Rensselaer, Greene, Columbia, Ulster and Dutchess counties.

“The combination of prolonged dry weather, west to northwest winds of 10 to 15 mph with gusts 20 to 25 mph, relative humidity values between 35 and 50% and dry fuels will contribute to an elevated risk of fire spread today for portions of eastern New York, including the eastern Catskills, Capital District, Mid-Hudson Valley, and the Taconics,” the National Weather Service office in Albany said Monday. 

The same risk is in place for New York City and Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties, as well as in New Jersey’s Passaic, Hudson, Bergen, Essex and Union counties.

In Connecticut, there’s an elevated risk of wildfire spread in Fairfield, New Haven, Middlesex and New London, and risk of elevated fire weather concerns in Litchfield.

In Massachusetts, there’s elevated fire weather concerns across a slew of counties, including the Boston and Cambridge areas, on Monday due to the prolonged dry weather, northwest winds with gusts up to 25 mph across the western part of the state, and minimum relative humidity combined with dry fallen leaves.

In New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, burning is strongly discouraged.

New York state’s burn ban is in place through Nov. 30, prohibiting starting outdoor fires for brush and debris disposal, as well as uncontained campfires and open fires for cooking. 

“Use extra caution if handling any potential ignition sources, such as machinery or matches, and ensure to properly extinguish or dispose cigarette butts,” forecasters said.

Overall, the winds Monday are far weaker than they were over the weekend.

The risks come as more than half of the Northeast remains under a moderate drought and saw red flag warnings — which indicate an increased risk of fire danger due to warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds — affecting over 40 million people Saturday.

Localized brush fires have burned across these states.

The Jennings Creek wildfire, in Orange County, New York, has burned more than 5,300 acres and was 88% contained as of Sunday evening, the New York State Park Police said. The wildfire is burning primarily in the Sterling Forest State Park.

The same fire has also burned more than 2,280 acres in Passaic County, New Jersey, and was 90% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said in an update Friday.

On Sunday, the New York City Fire Department announced the creation of its first brush fire task force in response to the “historic” increase in brush blazes around the city. The department said it responded to 271 brush fires across the city in the first two weeks of November.

While high pressure over the East will continue to create mild and dry conditions through Tuesday, rainfall may come to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Wednesday, the National Weather Service said in its national Monday weather advisory. Up to half an inch of rain will be possible in the Northeast on Thursday into Friday.

About 58% of the Northeast is experiencing moderate drought or worse, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, marking the highest drought level for the region since September 2002.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy issued a drought warning last week as the state experienced the driest conditions in nearly 120 years, which prompted an increase in wildfires. At the time, Murphy said the New Jersey Forest Fire Service had responded to 537 blazes since early October, which had burned thousands of acres — 500 more fires than during the same period last year, he said.