Jennings Creek Fire: Greenwood Lake schools closed for rest of week, fire 50% contained

WARWICK, New York (WABC) — The Jennings Creek Fire continued to grow along the New York-New Jersey border Thursday, but progress is being made to contain it.

Authorities said Wednesday evening that 4,383 acres had burned, including 2,100 acres in New York and 2,283 acres in New Jersey.

But significant progress has been made to extinguish the fire, and as of Wednesday night the containment rate had increased from 30% to 50%.

Due to the fire, there is no school in the Greenwood Lake Union Free School District on Thursday and Friday.

Firefighting activities, including backburning, will create additional smoke in the area.

Two schools in the region will be closed due to the expected conditions. “There will be much more smoke in the region tomorrow. There will be bigger flames on the mountainside.”

There are only two schools in the district, primary and secondary school. Decisions for next week will be made over the weekend.

For high school, students choose to attend Chester Academy or Warwick High School. These school districts are open, but the Greenwood district will not be providing transportation to these high schools for the remainder of the week.

In New Jersey, officials said two residential structures are currently under threat, but no evacuation orders have been issued.

There has been no significant rain since September, resulting in very dry conditions and dry leaves on the ground; This led New Jersey officials to issue a Drought Warning on Wednesday.

“New Jersey is experiencing unprecedented weather conditions as a result of climate change that require us to take these precautionary measures immediately,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “It may be difficult to adjust our daily habits, but it is imperative that we all work together, follow guidelines to conserve water, and exercise extreme caution outdoors to reduce the risk of wildfire as dry conditions continue across the state.”

After Murphy announced the drought warning, the state’s largest water utility issued a mandatory statewide conservation notice.

“We are committed to responsible water stewardship and stand ready to support Governor Murphy and NJ DEP’s action to move New Jersey to Drought Alert status,” said Mark McDonough, president of New Jersey American Water. “Our customers can trust that we are closely monitoring water conditions and ready to take additional action to support water conservation efforts across the state. But now it is critical for everyone to work together and save water.”

New Jersey residents are advised to avoid outdoor fires and light fires in fire pits, allow lawns to lie dormant throughout the season, winterize irrigation systems, water flowers and shrubs only as needed, repair leaky faucets and upgrade shower heads to low-flow versions.

The last New Jersey state Drought Emergency that included mandatory water use restrictions began in March 2002 and lasted until January 2003. The last Drought Watch in the state was in 2022, which started in August and was lifted in December.

On Wednesday evening, New York’s Rockland County issued a drought watch, encouraging residents to conserve water.

“When this county faced a water emergency in 2022, the people of Rockland stepped up to do the right thing and reduce water use to 15 percent below average,” said Rockland County Executive Ed Day. “Once again, I ask our citizens to do their part and reduce water use until we overcome this drought.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul said the brush fire was one of 11 fires burning statewide and conditions were dire. He imposed a statewide burning ban through Nov. 30.

“Preventing any outdoor fires is critical at this time. Remember to report any fires to authorities immediately, stay alert, and monitor your local forecast and law enforcement alerts.” he said.

The ban bans outdoor fires for brush and debris disposal, uncontained campfires, recreational fires and open fires used for cooking across the state. Backyard fire pits and campfires less than 3 feet in height and 4 feet in length, width or diameter are permitted, as are small, covered cooking fires.

New Jersey issues burn ban In October.

The Jennings Creek fire began burning in Orange County, New York, and Passaic County, New Jersey, over the weekend.

Fire 18-year-old volunteer firefighter died Dariel Vasquez.

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