An 18-year-old state worker from New York died Saturday during a wildfire in Orange County’s Sterling Forest.
Dariel Vasquez, an employee of the New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Department, was helping to mitigate the wildfire when he was killed, New York State Police said in a statement. The police are investigating the incident.
“I am deeply saddened by the death of one of our New York State Parks employees while responding to a wildfire in Orange County yesterday,” Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement on Sunday. “My prayers go out to his family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time.”
Wildfires continue to rage amid warm, dry conditions in the northeast, where 11 million people were still under fire alert as of Sunday afternoon. Cities under fire alert include Boston and Hartford.
Multiple fires are burning in Orange County, where County Executive Steve Neuhaus is encouraging residents living near the fires to create an evacuation plan.
“At this time, the Incident Command team has not indicated that evacuations are imminent, but we continue to monitor the situation closely,” Neuhaus said in an update on Sunday.
The Sterling Forest fire in Orange County is also affecting Passaic County, New Jersey, where it is being called the Jennings Creek Wildfire, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. The fire has spread to 2,500 hectares and is 0% contained as of Sunday afternoon. Its cause is being investigated.
“The Forest Fire Service remains on scene with fire trucks and ground crews,” the NJ Forest Fire Service said on X. “A Forest Fire Service helicopter capable of dropping 350 gallons of water is on scene.”
Elsewhere in Passaic County, the 175-acre Cannonball 3 wildfire is 75% contained. The cause is also being investigated.
A man was arrested after being accused of setting a fire in Jackson Township, New Jersey, the Forest Fire Department said in a news release. The man allegedly fired ammunition from a shotgun, sparking the fire behind a berm near a rifle club. The man was charged with arson and violation of the legal provisions regarding firearms.
In Massachusetts, a forest fire is raging in Lynn Woods Reservation, a forest park in Essex County. The park is closed to the public until further notice, the city of Lynn said in a statement on X.
Drone footage from the park shows smoke rising from a raging fire.
“Falling trees, air quality and the threat of new fires continue to pose significant hazards to the public,” the city said.
On Sunday, dry vegetation, wind gusts of 40 km per hour and relative humidity of around 40% will increase the risk of new or existing fires spreading quickly. An approaching cold front will bring a chance of rain and higher humidity later Sunday evening.
A slow-moving front will advance further east Sunday afternoon, bringing much-needed moisture to the eastern third of the country, including the Northeast.
Later Sunday evening and overnight, showers will move towards the northeast and mid-Atlantic. Precipitation totals will be relatively light, ranging from 0.5 inches to 1 inch.
The forecast rain is likely to break Philadelphia’s record streak of consecutive dry days. The current streak is 42 days, breaking the previous record of 29 set in 1874.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
