Keep up with fire safety

News of the fires ravaging Los Angeles has reminded many local residents of the 1995 Sunrise Fire which made national headlines, scorched thousands of acres of the Pine Barrens, and threatened homes and businesses in Westhampton Beach before it was extinguished.

A dry spell, 19 days without rain and wind gusts that exceeded 30 miles per hour, helped create a near disaster as fire tore through 5,500 acres of dry brush and pine forest and nearly reached loaded fuel tanks at Gabreski Airport.

It took several days and hundreds of firefighters, including a team of Hot Shots from California, to put out the inferno.

Asked about that fire, Suffolk County fire commissioner Rudy Sunderman got right to the point. “We had a fire yesterday,” he said.

On Monday, Feb. 17, fire broke out between Sunrise Highway exits 62 and 63,  a seven-mile stretch of wooded acreage and the same vicinity as the 1995 blaze. That fire started near Suffolk Community College’s Riverhead campus, and spread rapidly, then did the unthinkable: jumped across Sunrise Highway and continued to burn near Gabreski Airport and, later, farther south, threatening the village of Westhampton.

Thanks to a quick response by 15 local fire departments, the 2025 blaze was extinguished in two hours, with damage to 2.7 acres and no loss of life or property—a vast improvement over the earlier, near catastrophic, event.

Commissioner Sunderman was quick to reflect on some of the changes that made a difference.

“We have cellphones today,” he said.  “Thirty years ago, you saw smoke, you’d have to run home or try to find a public payphone to report it.  Now we have brush trucks that hold more water. They’re more efficient at knocking out fires. And, we have opportunities to provide more training today. There’s ongoing activity at both the Suffolk County Fire Academy in Yaphank and in-house at local fire departments. Today’s Suffolk County firefighters are trained in wild land firefighting techniques.”

FRES—the Fire Rescue and Emergency Services—oversees the county’s fire academy and posts regular alerts about current fire risk, as it did last November when concern was high after 40 days without rain.

While the cause of the Feb. 17 fire is still under investigation,  Sunderman urges residents to exercise caution and remain aware of potential fire risks, especially as we enter peak fire season.

Make sure that matches, cigarettes, or cigars are completely extinguished. Discard them only in a proper container, never on the ground or out a window, where they could ignite surroundings.

Don’t put mulch up to the foundation of your home or other structure.  Cut back vegetation, especially tree limbs, which should be 6 to 8 feet away from the house.

Wind, dry weather, and sparks from outdoor grills and fire pits can be a recipe for disaster as well.

“Pay attention to weather alerts and outside conditions and definitely exercise caution with open burns during fire season,” he said. “Go on FRES, check our social media page, the Suffolk County homepage, or local village or fire jurisdiction sites for fire risk alerts before burning.”