Police investigate death of 3-year-old dropped off at hospital

Gov. Murphy declares state of emergency; requests federal funding for repairs on I-80

Newark shooting leaves police officer dead, another injured; 14-year-old faces multiple charges

FDNY: Fire damages homes, injures 3 in Wlliamsbridge

School bus engulfed in flames in Williamsbridge

'The Music Man' opens at Pleasantville High School this weekend

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Jonathan Gordon

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And it was a major effort to contain those fires. We know more than 90 departments throughout both Nassau and Suffolk counties. They responded and worked tirelessly over the weekend. They sure did. Joining us now is the Suffolk Fire Rescue and Emergency Services Commissioner Rudy Sunderman to discuss how they all worked together and give us an update. Rudy, good morning to you. What can you tell us in terms of an update today? So good morning and uh thank you for giving us the opportunity. So it was a great job in response by our local volunteer fire and EMS agencies and uh thank you for Nassau County to uh support us in this operation. So yes, we did have 90 fire department and EMS agencies. He's out there, uh, responding on Saturday and uh it was a quick response by those local fire and EMS agencies. Um, the, the chief of the West Hampton Beach Fire Department quickly assessed the scene in West Hampton where there was over 400 acres that burnt. And uh the chief requested the assets and once he requested the assets and resources, um the extinguishment went into place as you know, and that's how we were able to assemble uh all those fire department and EMS agencies to get out there and uh do a quick knockdown on the fire as you heard, um, and that's why today, as you know, um, we were out there this morning and the teams are assembled again. Um, and we are now continuing on the containment. We are up to about 60 to 70% contained, as you know, and we're gonna continue, uh, that containment today, Monday, as we, uh, move forward to, uh, make the progress with our local, uh, state, county, and town officials, um. DEC Forest Rangers, the DEC, and we're going to continue that progress to go, but it was a great job in the efforts done by the local volunteer fire and EMS agencies. Commissioner Rudy Sunderman, thank you so much for joining us this morning and giving us that update as you approach on now that 3rd day of trying to contain everything. Thank you.

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LIZoom1310_2025-03-10-07-39-33

Departments throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties, they worked to contain those fires. Just a massive response. And joining us now to talk more about that huge effort is Nassau County Chief Fire Marshal Mike Utaro. Mike, good to see you. Thanks for joining us. What about that response? Uh, overall just island wide really working quickly to put out the fire. It was a great response. Uh, definitely our hats off to the, uh, Suffolk County Fire Rescue. Uh, did a fantastic job in just a few hours of mobilizing so many assets. Uh, since 1995, we've worked together on, uh, mutual aid plans and mobilization plans to make sure that firefighters get themselves ready and get ready to go so the support is there. And, uh, the plan worked and, um, thankfully, 8 departments that responded from Nassau were mobilized and sent to the staging area, but they weren't needed because of the excellent work done by Suffolk firefighting teams. Absolutely that plan worked. You said it. Regarding the investigation now, obviously you're in Nassau County. You're not a part of it, but you've been a part of investigations like this trying to figure out what possibly could start a fire like this. What are the things that can? Uh, there's many things, and I'm sure, uh, the Suffolk arson squad and the fire marshals out there are working hard on this. Uh, it could be careless, uh, campfires that are, uh, not fully extinguished. Uh, it could be something as simple as discarded cigarette. Uh, there's a lot of different factors. That's why in these type of days with dry conditions and very high winds, uh, safety and caution is, uh, is, is a necessity, uh, when dealing with, uh, trying to avoid these type of brush fires. Chief, how great is the threat island-wide considering on the same day we saw what was happening in Suffolk, there was even a brush fire in Brooklyn. It, it's, it's high. It's this time of year. The vegetation is not greening up yet. It's right around the corner, but it's not there yet. So there's a lot of dead foliage, dead, uh, vegetation from the year from, uh, you know, the fall, uh, as we experienced in November when they had the fires upstate, uh, it's ripe for a brush fire and all you need is the right combination of the temperatures and of course, the wind, like you had over the weekend and, uh, it could be a serious situation. So, uh, Thank you to Governor Hoko for putting the burn ban in effect and hopefully people, uh, heed that warning. Hopefully they do. Chief Utaro, thanks so much for your time this morning. You're welcome.

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LIalexexpolainer310

Very weather dependent when they are trying to totally eliminate these fires. The wind was the big issue on Saturday, but humidity also played a role in creating an environment where fires spread very rapidly. We only had 25% humidity at the time of the fires, and winds officially gusted up to 43 MPH, but we had 25 to 45 mile per hour wind. All day Saturday. Yesterday there was less of that, about 15 to 35 mile per hour winds, and the humidity was starting to climb. What's it like today? Well, the wind is very nice and light, about 10 to 20 MPH at the worst. It's actually lighter this afternoon and this morning. The humidity is down a little bit though, guys, but overall it is a better day for fire, uh, potential to be less.

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According to fire officials, while all four fires are 100% knocked down, the largest one in Westhampton Beach is only 60% contained as crews finish establishing a perimeter.

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Crews tackle remaining hotspots from weekend's East End fires

According to fire officials, while all four fires are 100% knocked down, the largest one in Westhampton Beach is only 60% contained as crews finish establishing a perimeter.

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