Dry weather in the northeast is fueling wildfires and the unusual activity has consumed a surprising number of acres for the region.
According to USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey, “We saw one fire in northern Virginia just west of the Blue Ridge, burning almost 200 acres. That was the Elizabeth Fire. Fortunately, it has stayed away from populated areas, but then just north of New York City, right on the New Jersey/New York border, burning into Orange County, New York, and adjacent areas into northern New Jersey. We have seen a fire there burning more than 5,000 acres. That fire burning again near West Milford, New Jersey into Orange County, New York, has chard more than 5,000 acres of vegetation. It is known as the Jennings Creek Fire and still trying to get a handle on that fire.”
Rippey says that dry conditions mixed with holiday weekend celebrations may have sparked several of these.
“Right before Veteran’s Day, some of the spells without measurable precipitation had stretched to six weeks across parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, even extending into the mid-Atlantic, including parts of Virginia, and we have seen a rather sharp flare-up in some of the smaller fires across that region,” he adds."A lot of campfires, brushfires, getting their start during the breezy conditions right ahead of Veteran’s Day. A lot of people outdoors and with the nice weather, a lot of activities going on, and so we have seen a big flare-up in that wildfire activity.”
Of course the Northeast is not alone in fighting those wildfires, flames are still burning across southern California’s Ventura County as well.
