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Riverhead firefighters knock down brush fire off Edwards Avenue

Approximately 40 Riverhead firefighters, armed with three brush trucks, knocked down a quick spreading brush fire located behind a home on Edwards Avenue in Baiting Hollow Saturday afternoon.

Firefighters arrived on scene shortly after 3 p.m. to find the fire spreading with the help of a strong wind, according to Riverhead Fire Chief Kevin Brooks.

“We wanted to position [the trucks] on the northeast corner because that’s where the wind was blowing,” Mr. Brooks said. “We wanted to knock the head down.”

Firefighters contained most of the flames within about 10 minutes, Mr. Brooks said, and firefighters continued to work for about an hour to make sure the dry leaves covering the ground didn’t reignite.

“Now you got a lot of mop up because you have to go deep,” Mr. Brooks said. “You got to get below the surface.”

A garden hose remained stretch out from the back of the home toward the tree line as firefighters sprayed down the area. The homeowner who called in the report of a fire said he had looked out his back door and saw something smoldering. He ran outside and tried to get his hose, but the it didn’t stretch far enough.

“The wind blew [the fire] so quickly,” the man said, declining to provide his name. “These guys responded very quickly. I tell you, fire travels very quick.”

A volunteer firefighter who lives down the road was the first one on scene a few minutes after the call, the homeowner said. Firefighters were cleared from the scene just after 4:30 p.m.

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Firefighters on scene Saturday afternoon of a brush fire behind Edwards Avenue. (Credit: Joe Werkmeister)