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NYC DEP Supports Catskills Wildfire Effort

NYC DEP

A wildfire on the side of a mountain off Route 214 has consumed some 200 acres in the Greene County hamlet of Lanesville.

The blaze broke out Thursday; water is being collected from Schoharie Reservoir by a specialized airplane that’s using it to douse the fire from the air.

Adam Bosch is DEP's Director of Public Affairs:  "Not only are we doing this because it's the right thing to do to help out our neighbors here in the Catskills, but also these forests in the New York City watershed are incredibly important. Forests comprise about 78% of the land that surrounds New York City's six reservoirs in the Catskills."

Governor Andrew Cuomo dispatched state emergency crews to help firefighters at the scene. The govenor said the fire was about 30 percent contained as of Friday afternoon.

The Catskill Daily Mail says investigators believe a falling limb hit a high-tension power line, causing sparks to fly off and quickly ignite the dry brush on the ground below.

Here's a video of the fixed-wing airplane gliding across Schoharie Reservoir as it scoops up water to fight the forest fire at Hunter Mountain. The airplane has made many successful passes to gather water and douse the fire since air operations began this morning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch…

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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