New York officials say the size of a forest fire in Minnewaska State Park will continue to fluctuate over the coming days. The fire, which was started by lightning on Saturday, had grown from 75 to 270 acres and is about 160 acres as of Friday morning. The Dept. of Environmental Conservation said the fire was 40 percent contained Friday.
“The DEC predicts that ultimately it will burn itself out,” Governor Kathy Hochul said Thursday afternoon during a briefing Thursday in Ulster County. “It may take a week. It may take two weeks. But we don’t expect it to be able to threaten any life or structures. But we take it very seriously.”
More than 200 firefighters have been trying to contain the fire, but difficult terrain and changing weather conditions have hampered those efforts despite hundreds of helicopter bucket drops.
DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos says it has been an extraordinarily dry year and that’s likely to continue over the next few days.
“That has really given rise to these conditions that are frankly dangerous,” Seggos said Thursday. “This mountainside, Minnewaska State Park and the high ground, is actually a fire-prone environment by its evolution. Fires actually can help to spread the vegetation over time by allowing these trees to grow. It’s a different situation though when you have villages in the valleys.”
Minnewaska State Park is closed through the Labor Day Weekend.
