Over the last several weeks, brush fires broke out all over New York State, with the worst concentrated in southern New York and Long Island. Suffolk County volunteers assisted in the response to fires in Orange County at the request of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office. Local departments were on the scene Nov. 12, 16 and 19. Eight fire departments across Suffolk County voluntarily responded and convoyed together to the scene. The North Fork and East End were well represented, with Orient, Greenport, East Marion, Mattituck and Shelter Island sending personnel and equipment.
East Marion assisted twice, sending a tanker and personnel north to fight fires in Orange County on Nov. 12. They returned to assist a second time on Nov. 19, along with the Orient fire department.
“It was a very impressive operation when you bring in all these different counties to one area and one mass scale incident, and the community treated us great,” said Ryan Weingart, assistant chief of the East Marion Fire Department. “It was really, really great to see the teamwork and brotherhood that went across the board, from the Suffolk County departments, all the way to the state, counties and everything. It was really impressive.”
East Marion was first assigned to the East Shore Road neighborhood. Their tanker also supplied water to the crews actively fighting the fire further up the mountain. “We provided water supply to the UTVs and engines that were going up in the mountains,” Mr. Weingart said. “Basically, our tanker was just a big water supply, and we put out hot spots along the neighborhood to make sure they were safe.”
Greenport Fire Department also started off containing high risk areas. “Initially when we got there, we were tasked with hitting hot spots … We were assigned to a neighborhood, and our job was pretty much just to go up in that neighborhood and find hot spots, stretch hose line and put them out as best as we could,” said Elias Zamayer, a captain with the Greenport Fire Department, who went north on Nov. 16. “It wasn’t until later on in the afternoon, around 4:30, when we changed locations. We went to a house and we staged with several fire trucks. We watched the entire top of the mountain light up and burn all the way down to just about the fire line, 20 feet off of our house that we were protecting.”
Mattituck sent a six man crew, a command vehicle and a four wheel drive attack pumper, a versatile piece of equipment that can send water into tight spaces. “We were tasked with hitting the side of a mountainside and hitting hot spots. Crews up there the day before were doing some back burns and a few hot spots [were] left over,” said Mattituck Fire Department Chief Jim Cox. “Then, later in the day, the wind shifted and the fire broke lines and started heading towards us. We transitioned to the defensive to protect the house.”
The Orient FD also assisted twice, sending four personnel and a 3,000 gallon tanker. The equipment needed to fight these upstate fires was different than what would be typical for Long Island because of the steeper, rockier terrain. “Down here, we have the Pine Barrens, right? It’s kind of flat and sandy. There, it’s up in the hills. It’s all rocky [and] very steep, so there’s no trucks that can drive up there,” said Bill Wysocki, chief of the Orient Fire Department, who traveled north with the deployment. “That’s why they use ATVs, because the small ATVs can go up on the hiking trails.”
Firefighting techniques in these environments are different as well, so the Orient crews also stayed in the neighborhoods to provide logistical support. “We were not really trained to do hand work up there like they do,” Mr. Wysocki said. “That’s why they kept us down on the roads to protect the houses and check the hot spots.”
Shelter Island responded on Nov. 19 with seven personnel, one engine and one chief’s car. Their primary assignment was patrolling neighborhoods for hot spots and reassuring the public. “We were dealing with a lot of the public coming and having concerns about small, little areas that were still smoldering or showing some signs of smolder,” said Max Pelletier, assistant chief of the Shelter Island Fire Department, who was among the volunteers. “So we had a couple guys just go around the woods in the general area and put a little bit of water on those hot spots. They weren’t really big hot spots, but [it brought] peace of mind to the residents of that area.”
When resources leave their home territories, mutual aid from other departments takes up the slack. Since so many of the departments on the North Fork went north, coordinating that coverage at home was essential. “Once one deployment goes out of town with a resource, we have to notify the other departments,” said Mr. Weingart. “So it’s honestly just a big coordination from top to bottom.”
Local volunteers received an outpour of gratitude and support from the upstate community. There were several chefs who closed their restaurants to cook in the firehouse kitchens instead, Mr. Wysocki said.
Mr. Pelletier also noted the warm reception from the fire departments they were assisting. “I give a real big shout out to them, as well as the Greenwood Lake Fire Department, for providing the station house for us and any amenities that we might have needed.”
Some area residents even lined up along the streets when the trucks arrived, displaying handmade signs of welcome and gratitude for their efforts. They also distributed ‘go bags’ with treats and drawings from local children. “Every one of these go bags had a little drawing from the kids in school,” said Mr. Zamayer. “I have four drawings from kids on my fridge at home that I look at every day, and it makes me smile.”