Ravena firefighters help battle Jennings Creek Wildfire
Ravena, N.Y. (WNYT) — When the call for help went out, the Ravena Fire Department sent a team down for a three-day deployment to the Jennings Creek Wildfire in Orange County.
Six people went down from Wednesday to Friday.
“When we went out there, very smoky conditions, the whole village was full of smoke, very loud,” said Ravena Fire Chief Kevin Phillips. “Helicopters were dropping buckets of water, something we’re not used to.”
They brought down hand tools to Greenwood Lake.
To date, the fire has burned more than 5300 acres across New York and New Jersey.
That fire is now 90% contained.
The first day, Ravena made a fire line to stop the fire from spreading.
“So the first day we were kind of behind the houses along the lakeside, cut that fire line. Second day we couldn’t see the fire but they knew it was coming so it was kind of like work hard, let’s get this done today because we don’t know what will happen when the weather changes,” said the chief.
The terrain is rocky and steep.
The third day they did a prescribed burn, a back burn to stop the fire from spreading.
Crews from all over New York are heading to Orange County to help.
The Jennings Creek Wildfire is primarily in the Sterling Forest State Park and is boxed in by fire lines.
There was no shortage of volunteers from Ravena.
“It felt good to help out,” said Chief Phillips. “The people down there– it’s rough for them down there. Schools closed. Roads all over the area are closed. They’re very grateful for us.”
The work is physically demanding and dangerous, even deadly. A State Parks employee died earlier this month.
There is a statewide burn ban in effect to try to prevent any more wildfires.