THE NEW YORK POST | Published March 9, 2025
Four separate fires blanketed Long Island’s East End Saturday, as thick black smoke filled the sky, threatening homes in middle class communities and wealthy parts of the Hamptons.
Four wildfires erupted at the edge of the Hamptons Saturday — sending residents into a panic and prompting Gov. Hochul to declare a state of emergency and warn the dangerous situation could become “a multi-day event,” she said.
The fires — in Center Moriches, East Moriches, Eastport and Westhampton — blanketed part’s of Long Island’s East End shortly after 1 p.m., filling the sky with thick black smoke, threatening homes in middle class communities and wealthy parts of the Hamptons.
An increase in winds overnight had authorities “very concerned,” Hochul told CNN Saturday evening. “This could be a multi-day event. I’m also concerned about the air quality. …This can shift at any moment, but the air quality is definitely compromised.”
Plumes of smoke seen from Sunrise Highway.
DiMiceli, of Manorville, owns a pet boarding business and said Westhampton residents told her they were being evacuated and asked her to take their dogs as they fled.
Authorities would not confirm what sparked the fires, but residents claimed one blaze started after a car accident on Sunrise Highway, in which a vehicle caught fire.
The gusty winds rapidly spread the flames.
“With this wind, a spark will simply ignite it,” said Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine in a late afternoon news conference in Westhampton Beach.
“The wind is driving this fire.”
One firefighter was taken to the hospital with second degree burns on the face, while others suffered only minor injuries, Romaine said.
Two businesses were damaged, he said.
The flames have engulfed an area 2 miles long and 2.5 miles wide, authorities said.
As of Saturday evening the fires were 50% contained, and helicopters were still circling the area, dropping water to try to quench the flames.
Residents as far as Fairfield, Connecticut, across the water told The Post they could see the smoke.
“Everyone was trying to figure out, what it was, we were convinced it was a boat on fire or something,” one resident who saw the smoke while walking their dog said.
Flames and black smoke billowed over County Road 51 in Manorville, where the fire crossed the highway shortly before 2 p.m., photos of the scene showed.
A rescue helicopter picks up water at Wild Wood Lake on March 8, 2025 in Westhampton, New York.
Additional fires were reported in the Pine Barrens and near Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton, shutting Sunrise Highway in both directions at Exit 58, authorities said. That’s the major access road toward the more exclusive parts of the Hamptons to the east.
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico posted video from a helicopter showing the scope of the blazes and the resulting smoke.
“Video from above of the massive wildfire in the pine barrens. Thank you to all of the firefighters and first responders fighting this blaze,” Panico wrote on Facebook.
For many residents the fire brought bad memories of another nightmare that happened three decades ago in the same area.
The Sunrise Fire of 1995 scorched 4,500 acres of pine barrens and damaged about a dozen homes before it was put out by firefighters from across the state.
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SOURCE: www.nypost.com
RELATED: Wind-Driven Brush Fire On New York’s Long Island 50% Contained
This image from video provided by Andrew Tallon shows smoke from fires in New York’s Long Island, on Saturday, March 8, 2025, seen from Southampton, N.Y. (Andrew Tallon via AP)
THE YESHIVA WORLD | Published March 9, 2025
A hellish inferno swept through the East End of Long Island on Saturday, forcing evacuations, choking the sky with thick black smoke, and shutting down the region’s main access road to the exclusive Hamptons. The fires, which erupted across four separate locations, sent panicked residents fleeing as flames devoured homes and businesses in both middle-class neighborhoods and wealthy enclaves alike.
As of Saturday evening, authorities had managed to contain just 50% of the fire, even as Blackhawk helicopters rained thousands of gallons of water onto the blazing terrain. The destruction stretched across a two-mile-long, 2.5-mile-wide area, leaving a scar of devastation as firefighters battled against raging winds that fueled the inferno’s relentless advance.
The fires erupted in Center Moriches, East Moriches, Eastport, and Westhampton, turning Long Island’s typically tranquil East End into a scene of chaos and destruction. Terrified residents described walls of flames consuming the landscape as embers, carried by powerful winds, ignited new blazes with terrifying speed.
With temperatures soaring and gusts whipping through the pine barrens, the fires became nearly impossible to control. Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, addressing the crisis from a Westhampton Beach news conference, warned of the fire’s volatility.
“With this wind, a spark will simply ignite it,” Romaine said. “The wind is driving this fire.”
At least one firefighter was hospitalized with second-degree burns to the face, while others suffered minor injuries. The flames also ravaged businesses and infrastructure, forcing the closure of Sunrise Highway, a critical route leading to some of the Hamptons’ most elite neighborhoods.
Authorities have not confirmed the exact cause of the fires, but witnesses reported seeing a car burst into flames on Sunrise Highway shortly before the chaos erupted. That incident, combined with the day’s dangerous weather conditions, may have sparked the cascade of fires.
Governor Kathy Hochul, appearing on CNN, declared a state of emergency, mobilizing National Guard helicopters and multiple state agencies to assist the overwhelmed 90 emergency response teams and 40 fire departments battling the crisis.
“We are in close communication with local partners on Long Island to coordinate assistance and make sure they have the resources they need to protect their communities,” Hochul said in a statement.
But even as resources poured in, a new threat emerged: air quality concerns. The governor announced that 1,000 N95 masks were being distributed to residents as the fires choked the skies with toxic smoke, creating hazardous conditions across Long Island and even as far away as Connecticut.
For longtime residents, the inferno reignited painful memories of the 1995 Sunrise Fire, which burned 4,500 acres of the same pine barrens and destroyed homes before firefighters finally subdued it.
In an eerie parallel, Saturday’s fires also raged near Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton and the Pine Barrens, further stoking fears that history might be repeating itself.
Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico took to social media to share aerial footage of the fire’s catastrophic spread, calling it “a massive wildfire” and praising the first responders risking their lives to combat the flames.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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SOURCE: www.theyeshivaworld.com
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