According to acting Fire Chief George Budd, on Saturday, at about 5:15 p.m, the Ellenville fire company responded to a brush fire they saw burning in the Ellenridge community. The fire, which took about an hour and a half to get under control, was located behind the K&W Carwash in an area known as the festival grounds. The cause of the fire looked "suspicious," and is currently under investigation, says Budd.

There were 73 firefighters from several different fire companies at the scene of the blaze which consumed between one and two acres of land. Fourty-two of the firefighters came from the Ellenville Fire Department, with representatives from Napanoch, Walker Valley, and the Eastern Correctional Facility's fire companies helping out as well.

"It was a moderate fire," says Budd. "We were fighting it under pretty good conditions, but it was going through a lot of pine trees and stuff like that, which made it pretty hot. But again, the guys did an awesome job containing it in a hurry, and we got it under control."

Interestingly, the fire department wasn't notified about the fire until after they had already begun looking for it.

"We had a little problem finding it in the beginning," says Budd. "It was never called in. We happened to be responding back home from another call, where we had to go put out a little contained fire. One of our guys saw it, saw the column of smoke. We found it back in the festival grounds there, up on Ulster Heights Road where the gate is."

While the firefighters were in the process of searching, an anonymous caller reported the fire. The anonymity of the caller may be a part of why the fire has been labeled as "suspicious", and may have helped prompt the investigation that is currently underway.

Like last week's battle with the catastrophic fire on the ridge, Acting Chief Budd is extremely grateful for the help and support he received from neighboring fire companies, such as the aforementioned Walker Valley, Napanoch, and Eastern Correctional. This time, however, Budd's thanks are extended yet further: this time, to the Code Ten Committee, a group of women who support the fire department by supplying them with food and refreshments when those who fight the flames put in long hours to protect us.

"At about seven o'clock, they sent up a whole bunch of barbecue chicken, because Pioneer [Hose] was having a chicken barbecue dinner going on down in the village that night," recounts Budd. "And when they heard about [the fire], they sent up a hundred and fifty pieces of chicken for the guys that were fighting the fire. It was real nice, and I want to thank the Code Ten Committee."

"They started [the committee] last month, and this was really the first time I was able to utilize them, and they really did an awesome job," says Budd.