NEW YORK — Firefighters extinguished a second brush fire in Prospect Park on Saturday, roughly a mile away from the site of Friday night’s larger blaze, New York City Fire Department officials said.
Forty smoke eaters responded to a fire near the LeFrak Center at Lakeside ice skating rink at about 2:40 p.m. and quickly put out the flames by 3:22 p.m., according to an FDNY spokesperson.
On Saturday, the FDNY deployed a “watch line” of firefighters to monitor the grounds of the original blaze, which burned a 2-acre wooded area in “an extremely inaccessible” part of the Nethermead, near the center of the Brooklyn park.
Firefighters worked to determine the fire’s cause while looking out for possible rekindlings, with drones assisting them overhead.
On Saturday, hundreds of aluminum cans and other debris, including burned appliances, fans and butane fuel cans, covered the ground in an area of the park affected by the fire.
The fires came amid an ongoing drought across the city. Last month was the driest October on record, with the second-longest rainless streak in city records dating back to 1869, officials said.
Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday banned grilling in city parks to curb the risk of more blazes igniting. Prospect Park is a popular spot for grilling, and the weather has been unseasonably warm.
“Effective immediately, we are prohibiting grilling in our parks, and we need all New Yorkers to take commonsense steps to prevent brush fires,” Adams said in a statement. “Getting through this drought will take all of us working together, and every drop counts, so let’s keep doing our part to save as much water as we can.”
Adams said city dwellers can conserve water by refraining from unnecessarily flushing toilets or running the tap, reporting open fire hydrants and taking shorter showers.
On Friday, the mayor praised a passerby who alerted authorities to the Brooklyn urban wildfire.
The city was placed under a red flag warning due to a high risk of fire, which caused numerous brush fires in New York along with a wildfire in New Jersey in recent days, according to Commissioner of Emergency Management Zachary Iscol.
Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an air quality health advisory on Saturday, as firefighters worked to contain several wildfires in Ulster, Orange and Sullivan counties.
“With recent drought conditions, there have been multiple wildfires ignited across the state, and we have deployed state assets and agencies to coordinate with local first responders in fighting these fires while closely monitoring air quality as a result of them,” Hochul said in a statement.
On Saturday morning in Prospect Park, curious locals snapped photos of charred, broken trees and smoldering ash littering the ground.
Richard Smolin, 60, held a small piece of charred wood in his hand as he trekked through the park with his family.
“I was just looking for evidence of the fire,” he said. “I found a little bit. Part of it is cindered off. I’ll give it back to nature.”
Isaac Marks, 12, and his parents walked on a path, with clear views of the fire-blackened foliage.
“When I woke up and came outside, it smelled like my grandma’s house. She smokes like two packs a day,” the boy said matter-of-factly. “Most of the park looks pretty normal, but the officer said that up there it’s more burned.”
Michael Wood, 28, said he watched firefighters extinguish flames on a tall tree they had pulled down with rope.
“It was very, very small. It seemed like it was contained in the trunk itself,” the Flatbush resident said. “I watched them spray it. They had a chemical spray and they sprayed it with water. It was totally out.”
Denise Nunez, 55, who has lived by the park for nearly her entire life, said she has walked through the wooded pathway that ignited many times before.
“They have it closed off. You can’t walk [off the path into the woods, but when you’re in it] you’re totally in nature,” she explained.
“I see ashes, charred earth. I see burned trees. They’re all toppled,” the Brooklyn woman noted.
“I just hope it rains on Sunday like they say,” she added.
