All four Long Island brush fires that sent soaring plumes of smoke into the air had been contained by Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
Two firefighters were hurt battling the blazes and two commercial buildings were damaged, Newsday reported. No residential buildings were damaged; any earlier reports of burned homes were erroneous.
The four fires combined to torch about 600 acres across the Pine Barrens in Suffolk County, according to county executive Ed Romaine. More than 90 departments responded to the blazes to keep them away from major population centers.
All roads that had been closed Saturday, including a 4-mile stretch of the Sunrise Highway, were reopened Sunday afternoon, according to Newsday. Authorities are still investigating how the fires started, including the possibility of arson.
“I know there are rumors out there,” Southampton emergency leader Ryan Murphy told Newsday. “We are in standard investigation mode.”
A state of emergency remained in place throughout Suffolk County on Sunday, News 12 Long Island reported. Gov. Hochul declared the state of emergency on Saturday afternoon, shortly after the fires erupted on the island’s south shore.
By Sunday afternoon, firefighting crews were focused on putting out hot spots and preventing flare ups from the previous day’s blazes. However, the potential for new fires remained into Sunday, as wind gusts were expected to reach 25 mph and no precipitation was in the forecast.
Saturday’s largest fire was in Westhampton, stretching 2 miles long and 2.5 miles wide at its peak strength, officials said. County Executive Romaine described the area as “very lucky” conditions did not get worse.
