Drivers pulled over to the side of the road on Route 209 in Accord last Friday to witness a scene resembling a volcanic eruption; enormous plumes of smoke billowed from the Shawangunk Ridge, the result of a blaze in Minnewaska State Park. The fire has been labeled as the largest forest fire in the area in 13 years, and has prompted area-residents to stay ready to evacuate at a moment's notice.

As of press time, the fire had spanned 3,100 acres of forest land. Initially contained to 30 acres, the conflagration began in the late morning last Thursday, and has forced the continued closure of Route 44/55 ever since. The Daily Freeman reported on Tuesday evening that the fire had finally been 100% contained, though it had not been completely extinguished.

According to Yancey Roy, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the original cause of the fire still has yet to be determined, and is currently under investigation.

Over 30 local fire companies from five different counties had responded to the fire, while the governor's office provided some 245 state personnel to assist in the emergency effort.

"New York State is committing every resource available to battle this forest fire in the Minnewaska State Park," said Governor Paterson in a press release. "We will continue to work with local firefighters to contain this blaze, to protect our park and the surrounding communities."

Agencies involved included the State Emergency Management Office (SEMO), Office of Fire Prevention and Control (OFPC), Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), Division of State Police (NYSP), the National Guard, Ulster County Sheriff, State Department of Transportation and Ulster County Emergency Services.

Two helicopters — one from the NYS Police and one from the Air National Guard — scooped 100 and 500 gallon buckets of water from Lake Awosting in Minnewaska State Park and dropped it on strategic areas of the fire.

Due to the rugged terrain, larger heavy equipment couldn't be used, and much of the work was done by individuals with hand tools. Bulldozers created "containment" by removing flammable vegetation material from 4-foot wide areas, creating barriers to the fire. In areas where highly flammable materials such as pitch pine are present, 12 to 15 foot barriers were needed.

Ironically, the DEC, in cooperation with the Mohonk Preserve and other local organizations and property owners, has been conducting "prescribed burns" that are intended to reduce the risk of out-of-control fires such as this one.

Acting Chief of the Ellenville Fire District George Budd reports that he has been working with his district's firefighters regularly since the forest fire began. Twelve hour shifts comprised of six firefighters each pitched in and did their part throughout the ordeal, providing food and water to other emergency workers on the scene, raking fire lines, and protecting exposures.

"When they feel that a house can be threatened, they'll put a fire truck by it to protect the house," explains Budd of exposure protection. The only instances when the district had time off was when there were brush fires within the Ellenville district, though Budd assures that the district remained safely covered because only six firefighters at a time were dispatched to Minnewaska.

"My men from the Ellenville Fire Department should be commended for the outpouring of support and everything they gave," says Budd. "Any time I got on my phone and asked for help, if I needed five guys, I had ten, I had twenty, calling and asking, 'what can I do?'"

The chief also expresses his thanks and gratitude for the aid his district received from the fire companies of Napanoch, Walker Valley, Grahamsville, and Eastern Correctional Facility's brush truck. Their efforts to extinguish a brush fire on Berme Road on Thursday afternoon, as well as on Saturday night, helped to ensure that the ridge didn't begin burning from the Ellenville side as well.

Budd urges all residents within the district to follow the open fire ban that is in effect between April 15 and May 15, and if residents adhere to the ban, more disasters like the forest fire in Minnewaska State Park can be averted.

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Anxious residents packed the Cragsmoor Fire House this past Saturday to be briefed by officials from the NYS DEC — including DEC Commissioner Alexander Grannis and Commissioner of NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Carol Ash — on the fire that had blazed along Rte 44/55 for days, and could have threatened the Cragsmoor community.

Stephen Scherry, a lieutenant of the NYS Forest Rangers, used a map to show residents where the fire was located, and to explain current conditions, acknowledging that information hadn't gotten to area residents as quickly as it should have.

"For a fire to get to this level, this fast, is very, very unusual," Scherry said. "The fire started on Thursday, and burned 1,000 acres by Friday, and just over 3,000 Sunday morning."

Captain Daniel Walsh said the operation was being run from a command post in Kerhonkson and he hoped to have "full containment" by Sunday evening.

On Sunday morning, the fire was 5 miles from Cragsmoor in the Minnewawska State Park. The break in the hot, dry weather of the past few days helped keep the fire from reaching the mountain community, and a change in the wind direction began to push the fire back on itself.

Lt. Scherry said that Cragsmoor has an advantage in the fact that "it is the only community in the Northeast to be a certified FireWise community, and its residents are more familiar than most about ways to protect their property from wildfires. He also said that Cragsmoor has a very effective team of firefighters and urged residents to comply with the Town of Wawarsing burn ban extending from April 15 to May 15.

Although much of the land burned or threatened is open space or parkland, a few residents were endangered. Walsh said officers went door-to-door to explain the threat and help residents make whatever preparations were possible.

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