In the northeast, forest fires are raging in warm, dry conditions

Gusty winds and low humidity are helping to fuel the wildfires in the northeast, with cities in the region on high alert on Saturday.

Red flag warnings — which indicate an increased risk of fire danger due to warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds — were in effect for some cities in the northeast through Saturday afternoon.

A number of cities in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island will be under a red flag on Sunday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

The vegetation in the area remains very dry. The region is about 6 to 8 inches behind precipitation since September 1. A cold front is expected to move through the region on Sunday, bringing up to an inch of rain.

A forest fire in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park burned Friday into Saturday after about 5 acres of dry vegetation were set on fire during high winds, the New York City Fire Department said said on X. The fire brigade spent the night extinguishing the fire.

“This has been a historically dry season for New York City and more than 100 wildfires have occurred this month alone,” the FDNY said.

In Pennsylvania, firefighters are working to extinguish a fire that broke out in Berks County due to dry and windy conditions. The fire started around 11:30 p.m. Friday on Neversink Mountain in Reading, where smoke billowed from the blaze.

According to Reading Mayor Eddie Morán, the fire resulted in the evacuation of local residents to the Amanda E. Stout Elementary School.

“The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Forestry Division will lead the fire suppression and cleanup operation, which is expected to last several days, and coordinate any additional resources needed,” Morán said.

There are two fires burning in Passaic County, New Jersey: the Cannonball 3 Wildfire in Pompton Lakes and the Jennings Creek Wildfire in West Milford, the latter of which is also burning in part of Orange County, New York.

The Cannonball 3 Wildfire of 175 hectares is 75% containedThis is reported by the New Jersey Forest Fire Department. Fifty-five buildings are threatened by the fire and its cause is under investigation.

The fire is burning on private property owned by chemical company DuPont, Bill Donnelly, chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Department, said at a news conference Saturday.

Officials were first notified of the fire around 3 p.m. Friday and “over time the fire began to grow with the wind,” Mayor Mike Serra said at the news conference.

A DuPont representative did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Saturday evening.

The Jennings Creek Wildfire, which Donnelly said was first spotted by firefighters on Friday as it moved toward New York, has already has burned 2,000 hectares and threatens 10 buildings. It is 0% contained.

Donnelly said the winds changed overnight, pushing the fire back across the border into New Jersey. Two helicopters and 33 firefighters are working to extinguish the blaze, he said.

The fire is the largest so far this year, Donnelly said, and it is not clear how it started.

Several local authorities confirmed that one person died while fighting the fire.

The Plattekill Fire Department said the person was a state forest ranger who died Saturday while fighting the fire in Greenwood Lake, New York.

A tree fell on the ranger, killing him, the Eastern Dutchess County Fire Department said. It didn’t identify him.

“Rip brother, your shift is over, well done,” Eastern Dutchess County officials said.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service responded to more than 400 fires last month and about 40 fire calls on Friday and Saturday, Donnelly said, noting some are still burning while others are under control.

Donnelly said around the same time last year, the department responded to 27 fires that burned a total of just eight acres over a two-week period. But in the past month, he said, they have responded to more than 400 fires covering more than 800 hectares, a result of the dry conditions.

Another 80-acre wildfire in Bergen County is 75% containedaccording to the state fire brigade.

One of the biggest issues for firefighters in New Jersey is the “reburn factor,” Donnelly said, noting that some fires that started in July are burning again.

The active wildfires prompted air quality warnings in both New Jersey and New York, discouraging residents from strenuous outdoor activities.

On the west coast is the Mountain Fire continues to burn in Ventura County, California, and has spread to more than 20,600 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The fire was 21% under control at that time 5:29 PM PT. Its cause is being investigated.

Air quality warnings are in effect throughout Southern California due to wildfire smoke.

CORRECTION (Nov. 9, 2024, 7:46 PM ET): An earlier version of this article misstated the name of a fire in Passaic County, New Jersey and Orange County, New York. It’s the Jennings Creek Wildfire, not the Jennings Creed Wildfire.