Ollie Sweeney, Contributing Writer
Earlier this month, a devastating wildfire ripped across Sunrise Highway on Long Island. Almost a hundred fire departments were called for aid. The smoke was so intense it could be seen from across the Long Island Sound in Connecticut. The brush fire itself consisted of four separate fires made by embers carried in the wind. Roads and highways were shut down as fire trucks and air tankers rushed to put out the fires.
The fire is said to have spanned three miles in length and one mile in width, consuming the dead trees in the West Hampton area. Because the trees were so dry, the fire was able to branch off across the highway and quickly ignite a large portion of the Pine Barrens. Authorities have stated that residents making s’mores may have caused the fire. Other related causes to the fire are also attributed to the high-speed winds carrying the embers and the dry climate.
The Pine Barrens have faced wildfires three previous times. The first being in 1989, when 500 acres of the Pine Barrens succumbed to the blaze. In 1995, a large fire ravaged the Pine Barrens and burned 4,500 acres of land. It was recorded to have been the largest fire New York State had ever seen in almost 90 years. And in 2012, another fire destroyed over 1,000 acres of land.
The smoke could also be seen rising behind Stargazer, a large sculpture of a deer that marks the entrance to the Hamptons along County Road 111 to Route 27. The orange glow going unnoticed tinting the gray smoke just above the treeline. Drivers on that road kept on County Road 11 until stopping and were turned around by police less than a mile from the fire, the immense size of the smokestacks coming into full view.
The aftermath from the fire left the grass and trees scorched black on all sides of Sunrise Highway. Drivers even noticed holes in the woods where brushfire trucks plowed through to contain the fire. This fire reflects the changes and concerns of global warming.
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