Woodbury, NY +Major Brush Fire+ A general alarm has been called for a large brush fire that is spreading very rapidly out of control very close to Route 6 at Lakes Drive and Silver Mine Tr. numerous ATV’s, brush trucks and humvees are Forestry Units are all heavily engaged, and now also requesting additional M/A Rockland County with brush trucks and man power 30 firefighters all to the scene.
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U/D: 17:36
Smoke could be seen all over Rockland County, Aviation requested to perform water drops.
The fire burned through 25 acres of park land in Orange County yesterday.
The fire began just before 2 p.m. in the Silver Mine ski area of Harriman State Park, said New York state Park Police Lt. David Love. By about 6:30 p.m., Love said, fire officials had managed to contain the blaze.
The cause of the fire, he said, was under investigation by park police. No injuries were reported.
At its peak, the blaze drew firefighters from 18 departments, including six in Rockland County: Stony Point, Hillburn, Hillcrest, New City, Sloatsburg and Thiells. A Rockland County helicopter also was called in to help officials survey the area.
Assistant Chief Chris Kear of the Hillcrest Fire Department said firefighters used brush trucks — all terrain vehicles equipped with water tanks and hoses — to combat the flames.
County fire coordinator Gordon Wren said smoke from the fire could be seen from Pomona.
Fire hits ski slopes
A fast-moving brush fire fueled by dry grass and wind ate through 25 acres of brush yesterday, charring the small slopes of a ski park.
More than 100 firefighters spent hours quelling the fire that broke out about 2 p.m. at the Silver Mine Skiing Area in Harriman State Park.
“By the time we got here, it was already up to the top of the hill,” said Woodbury fire Chief Brian Wallace.
The fire then spread to the other side of the hill, which is in Rockland County. The steep inclines made it impassable for trucks, so firefighters from more than 16 departments in Rockland and Orange counties walked in, hitched rides on ATVs or were ferried back and forth in four-wheel-drive trucks.
State park police Lt. David C. Love said the cause of the fire, which started behind a wooden shed at the bottom of the slopes, is under investigation.
“On a bright sunny day, when all of a sudden a fire starts … I’d say it’s suspicious,” Love said. “It could be somebody walking by and tossing a cigarette.”