Riverhead firefighters found themselves fighting two new brush fires Sunday afternoon, after being called back on Sunday morning to the scene of Saturday’s brush fire, to douse a flare-up there.
Shortly before 3 p.m., Riverhead Fire Department activated its brush trucks to tackle flames south of Pulaski Street and north of the railroad tracks, in an area where homeless people sometimes set up camp. Firefighters found miscellaneous debris, including tires, burning there. The Riverhead fire marshal responded to investigate. Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps stood by to treat any injuries. Flanders Fire Department stood by at Riverhead headquarters.
As firefighters were wrapping things up at the Pulaski Street fire, at about 4 o’clock a second call came in for a brush fire at the Calverton Shooting Range off Nugent Drive. Riverhead’s brush trucks went directly from the Pulaski Street fire to the shooting range. Riverhead called Manorville, Wading River, Eastport and East Moriches fire departments for mutual aid at the shooting range scene. These operations are currently ongoing. Flanders fire department is standing by at Riverhead’s headquarters.
RFD’s brush trucks were activated this morning, as well, to deal with hot spots flaring up in the woods along the Soundfront bluffs in Baiting Hollow, just east of Friar’s Head golf course, the scene of the large brush fire Saturday.
The Baiting Hollow brush fire broke out around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. Driven by strong winds, the fire took 125 firefighters from 18 departments, working 10 hours through the night, to extinguish. It spread rapidly due to strong, gusty winds, low relative humidity and unusually dry conditions. When the fire broke out, a red flag warning was in effect on Long Island for critical fire weather conditions, which are conducive to rapid spread of wildfires should ignition occur.
Firefighters were called back to the same location Saturday night at about 7:30, when portions of the woods re-ignited. Five other area departments responded with brush trucks to assist Riverhead last night. The fire was brought under control by 9:30 p.m.
Editor’s note: This is a developing story. Check back for more information as it becomes available.
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