Arson could be the cause of several wind-driven brush fires that burned on New York’s Long Island over the weekend, injuring two firefighters and sending large smoke plumes into the air, officials said.
Stemming the Southern pine beetle onslaught is one way to limit the amount of dead trees that lead to new growth and more fire risk, Romaine said.
A state of emergency was declared by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and around 100 fire companies were reportedly deployed.
Brush fires on New York's Long Island fanned by high winds have picked up quickly. The fires were spewing thick gray smoke into the sky and closed a major highway on Saturday.
A New York resident making s'mores in their backyard is suspected of accidentally igniting a series of wildfires over the weekend that swept through hundreds of acres of the Pine