New York – Several major brush fires continued to burn overnight in different parts of the Tri-State Area, and Governor Andrew Cuomo placed the National Guard fire team in Suffolk County on standby to be ready to support firefighting efforts there.
Strong winds and dry air continued to make for a dangerous combination.
In fact, in Boro Park, miles away from wildfires on Long Island and Staten Island, some 750 women watching a Chol Hamoed video production were thrown into panic when individuals thought a smell of fire was coming from inside the building of the iconic Bais Yaakov of Boro Park, where the event was being held. The hundreds of women stampeded out onto 14th Avenue, at which time it was realized that there had been no blaze at the building, but rather the stench emanating from the brush fires in the Tri-State area were so powerful that they had spread to the other boroughs of New York City.
Back in Suffolk County, three firefighters were injured responding to a brush fire near the Brookhaven National Laboratory. At one point, firefighters from 109 departments in Suffolk County responded to the brush fire that has affected about 2,000 acres, including 300 acres on the Brookhaven Lab site.
Fires also continued to burn in Ridge and Manorville on Monday evening. Ridge Fire Chief Steve Gray said the two blazes that began there morphed into one.
Ten homes in the Riverhead area also suffered damage and firefighters were dispatched to bring those fires under control, officials said. Two residential homes and one commercial building in the area were destroyed.
A five-alarm fire burned on Staten Island in the area of the old Fresh Kills landfill, causing traffic tie-ups on the West Shore Expressway. The fire featured gusts of 45-60 mph, but there were no reported injuries or homes threatened in that area. It was not the brush that was on fire, but rather a compost fire that can start on its own without an igniter, the FDNY said, adding that the wind helped spread the flames.
The Staten Island blaze continued to snarl the West Shore Expressway last night. The expressway was closed in both directions near Victory Boulevard around 1 p.m., as nearly 200 firefighters worked to put out the flames. Traffic on the Staten Island Expressway and side streets was also impacted.
{Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}
Maybe this was a sign from Heaven that such events are NOT befitting a Baas Yisroel! This is not what Chol Hamoed was ment for!
funny seeing all the women running out!:)
was not funny for those who were there and got hurt in the stampede. many items were lost as well.