State of emergency: More wind brings risk of more flames as brush fires burn on Long Island

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/08/us/long-island-fire-suffolk-county/index.html

More wind brings risk of more flames as brush fires burn on Long Island

By Michelle Watson, CNN
4 minute read
Updated 11:13 AM EDT, Sun March 9, 2025

CNN
—
A day after several wind-driven brush fires burned on New York’s Long Island, sending large smoke plumes into the air and shutting down a highway, winds Sunday afternoon are expected to increase again, elevating the fire risk across portions of the region.


Fire crews in Suffolk County responded to at least three “major brush fires” that began Saturday on the East End, county executive Ed Romaine said. The fires have shut down a stretch of Sunrise Highway, the New York Department of Transportation said.

There were no evacuation orders and no residents in the fire’s direct path as of Sunday evening but at least two structures have burned and crews rushing to stop the fires’ spread were already contending with strong winds, authorities said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Saturday, telling CNN’s Jessica Dean, “This could be a multi-day event.”

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