Riverhead Fire Department responds to multiple brushfires over Veterans Day weekend

Three different brush fires demanded the Riverhead Fire Department’s attention over the holiday weekend. 

First, on Saturday a fire broke out near the Friar’s Head Golf Club in Baiting Hollow. The call came in shortly after midnight, according to the fire department. Eighteen departments from all over Suffolk County responded, including Orient, Cutchogue, Manorville, Eastport, Wading River, the Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps and Moriches. Equipment included four tankers and multiple brush trucks. The fire was controlled after a 12-hour fight, but Riverhead FD did return during a flare-up on Sunday.

The geography of this area contributed to the size and intensity of the fire. “If you have a wind blowing off the water towards the bluff, the fire spreads very rapidly,” said Bill Sanok, the department’s public information officer. And this year, because of the kind of dryness we’ve had, the all the leaves were tinder dry. So that’s what made it so intense.”

Two more fires broke out on Sunday, one near Riverhead Building Supply on JT Boulevard and another near the Calverton shooting range on Nugent Dr. The latter proved somewhat challenging due to the size of the property and the fire’s distance from access roads, said Mr. Sanok, who added that getting ahead of the fire and containing it allows the firefighters to work back to where it started.

“When they fight a fire, they hit the periphery, especially where it’s heading,” Mr. Sanok said. “That’s how you generally fight it. You catch the head and then work back from there, and then put out what was in the smoldering area. Then you have a complete extinguishment.”

Conditions have been unusually dry for fall, and a red flag warning is in place for the time being. Maple leaves are already on the ground and many oaks are dropping now. These leaves, coupled with strong winds, create the perfect environment for fast moving brush fires.

“Anytime you have a brush fire, if it gets big enough it creates its own wind. most of the time we have the brush fires in the spring, but in the fall can also be pretty bad, like it is right now,” said Mr. Sanok.

The red flag warning will remain in place until the weather conditions improve. This means a good, soaking rain, ideally accompanied by a drop in wind.

“We need at least a quarter to a half an inch of rainfall to wet [the leaves],” said Mr. Sanok. “We had a slight rainfall, just a trace, the other night. By the morning, it was pretty much gone, so until we get an adequate rainfall to wet things down, [we have the red flag warning].”

Flare-ups are not unusual for brush fires. There is an abundance of fuel at the moment, and dry, windy conditions allow the fire to spread deeper into the forested areas.

“When you have when you have a brush fire, the surface burns real fast. That’s the leaves and small branches,” said Mr. Sanok. “But out in the woods, you have trees that have died, that are somewhat in the process of being decayed, and the fire gets inside there. Not only is it dry, but it’s protected, so that it could smolder for quite a while, and if the wind changes, you can get a flare up.”

Once the fire ban is lifted, residents should still be cautious, Mr. Sanok said. The department recommends taking care with any type of outdoor burning.

“Be careful with anything you do outside, even a barbecue pit,” said Mr. Sanok, including “a patio wood burning stove; you’ve got to be careful with those things. Because once it gets out of hand, it’s wind-driven.”