Evacuations Ordered as Upstate NY Wildfire Grows

The Associated Press
Published: May 5,2015




 
A wildfire in Upstate New York is forcing evacuations.

A helicopter dumps water on a brush fire behind houses in Cragsmoor, N.Y., along the edge of the Shawangunk Ridge State Forest.
(Allyse Pulliam/Times Herald-Record via AP)

The fast-moving blaze at the southern edge of the Catskill Mountains started just before noon on Sunday in the Town of Mamakating. More than 1,700 acres of the Shawangunk Ridge State Forest.
The Ulster County Sheriff's Department asked some residents in the Cragsmoor area to play it safe and leave their homes.
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A red flag warning was posted for the region Monday, due to dry air and high winds. Firefighting conditions had improved by Tuesday, according to weather.com meteorologist Linda Lam.
Sullivan County safety officials say more than 20 fire companies are trying to prevent the fire from spreading as they work to extinguish the flames.
Officials say no homes have been damaged yet because the fire has been confined mainly to the forest.
The blaze is believed to have been started by a homeowner burning debris outdoors.
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