August 24, 1995 The Wild fires begin out east.
On August 24, 1995 it hadn’t rained for about 21 days. North-northwest winds were sustained at 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph and the humidity was at 17%. These conditions just created the potential for a conflagration in areas of the Pine Barrens that hadn’t burned in a long time
Flames were first reported in the woods near Suffolk County Community College near Speonk-Riverhead Road – not far from Sunrise Highway in the afternoon. Early into the incident, there were attempts to stop the blaze on Speonk-Riverhead Road – but crews were pushed back to Sunrise Highway where pieces of fire equipment seemed to materialize in the median of the 400-foot span. This is where responders hoped the blaze would end, barely two-hours into the incident. But the embers in the air were being carried too quickly and haphazardly across the roadway – igniting the canopies of trees and spreading fear that it could burn all the way to the waters on the South Shore.
Many firefighters on the scene were still weary from the fires earlier that week at the Rocky Point Natural Resources Management Area that consumed approximately 1,800 acres. It wasn’t placed under control until Aug. 23 – a day before the flames erupted in the Eastport/Northampton area.
It wasn’t contained for three more days. Throughout the term of the wildfire – more than 3,000 fire, EMS, law enforcement and support personnel responded to the event, including 109 fire departments in Suffolk and 71 in Nassau.
The FDNY amassed 10 engines and New Jersey and Connecticut also came to assist. On the first night of the fire, President Bill Clinton pledged aid in the form of U.S. Forest Service members.
The whipping winds ceased on Saturday, Aug. 26. The efforts of firefighters, the U.S. Forest Service’s “hotshot” crews and pilots dropping water were working. White plumes of smoke mushrooming upward were a welcome sight for the sore, battered and bruised crews operating on little to no rest.
By Sunday, victory had been declared – but the last embers were not stamped out until early September. Forty-nine firefighters were treated for minor injuries. About 10 structures were damaged. There was no loss of life.
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