Troublesome hotspots kept volunteer firefighters busy Saturday in Rockland County a day after two dozen brush fires, some reaching heights of 30 feet, scorched acres of land and raced toward homes.
Dramatic scenes played out Friday afternoon in Congers as firefighters from 26 different departments rushed to get water on the quick-moving fires, ultimately preventing major property loss. County officials say only a handful of homes had siding melted from the intense heat. Some fencing and a few cars were also damaged.
Within three hours, firefighters managed to get the situation under control, sparing further destruction beyond the 50 to 70 acres officials estimate the brush fires consumed in roughly three hours. But the fight was far from done; firefighters monitored hotspots late into the night.
"We ask that Rocklanders remain vigilant to any new brush fires no matter how small and call 911 if observed. Hopefully we will get that promised rain this afternoon to help us with what remains," Rockland County Executive Ed Day said.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Parts of Route 9W were closed, and expected to stay that way through most of the weekend "due to falling trees and rocks from Friday's countywide brush fires." Once firefighters had the hotspots contained, highway crews planned to move in and remove any trees blocking the roadway.
Chopper 4 was over the scene around 2:30 p.m., capturing frantic homeowners watching as intense flames licked fences around their properties. Some used backyard garden hoses pulled to their property lines to douse approaching flames as best they could.
Black smoke was visible for miles as fire rapidly. Officials said the flames started in the town of Stony Point before moving south along the west side of the Hudson River to Congers. Stony Point Supervisor Jim Monaghan said that flames shot up 30 to 40 feet in the air at certain times, and that a good amount of the town was left covered in heavy smoke and ash.
A handful of residents, including a 98-year-old woman, fled their homes as the uncertainty of the unfolding fire grew.
The train tracks seen running in the area are freight tracks and county officials said later in the evening that a train run by railroad company CSX shot out sparks as it moved along, sparking the fires. Train traffic was temporarily halted on the route.
"If they have a malfunction on the train, they should have stopped the train instead of dragging it through three towns and causing fires in three towns," said Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann.
CSX said that they inspected the train in the area and did not report any issues. The railroad company said they are cooperating with county officials, though some residents in the area want a public face-to-face meeting with the company to see how they plan on addressing the issue.
No significant injuries were reported, but five of the volunteer firefighters -- some leaving their own homes to protect their neighbors -- were said to have suffered heat exhaustion. They were treated at the scene.
The fires did come at a high financial cost for the three towns impacted, as hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent dousing the flames. Gov. Kathy Hochul said that the state has deployed resources to help Rockland and Orange counties combat the brush fires.
Friday's fire concerns come on the heels of red flag warnings for New York, as well as New Jersey and Connecticut. Though the National Weather Service let those expire, it warned the fire threat lingered at least through Friday night.
Check the latest weather alerts here.
New Jersey was hit particularly hard as wildfires erupted across the state this week in Brick, Howell Township, West Milford Township, Teaneck and elsewhere. No injuries were reported in any of the cases, but firefighters described exhaustive scenes and, in one case, a 200-foot wall of flames hampering efforts to fight a Manchester Township fire.
