A brush fire broke out Friday night in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York City, during a drought that has plagued the northeastern United States for weeks.
The New York City Fire Department reported the fire on X around 8 p.m. Shortly after, it stated that units were using drone technology to locate hot spots.
“The fire is under control, but there are some hotter spots,” FDNY Commissioner Robert S. Tucker said during a press conference.
Tucker stated that firefighters would be at Prospect Park all night to ensure that the fire was contained and that no new fires were started by embers carried by the wind.
The fire was in a “extremely dense” area of Prospect Park on a hill, with no structures nearby to threaten, he said.
The cause of the fire is being investigated. NBC New York reported that no one was injured.
“Daylight will help us figure out the cause and origin of this fire,” Tucker told the crowd.
The fire highlighted the dangers of the drought, and officials thanked the person who spotted it and reported it to authorities.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams stated in an X post on Friday that his office was monitoring the fire, and that the FDNY, NYC Emergency Management, and the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation were on the scene.
The latest fire comes amid a weeks-long drought in the Northeast, caused by dry and unusually warm weather. Several fires have broken out in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and windy conditions are exacerbating the situation.
On Thursday, “temperatures soared to well above normal readings,” according to the National Weather Service in New York.
A cool down forecast for late Friday was expected to bring temperatures down to “right around normal” on Saturday.
According to the FDNY, New York City is under a drought watch “due to a historic lack of rainfall.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that October was one of the driest months on record in the United States, particularly in the Northeast.
According to the Southeast Regional Climate Center, which collects precipitation data from more than 1,400 weather stations across the country, cities such as Philadelphia, Newark, New Jersey, Wilmington, Delaware, and Norfolk, Virginia saw no rain that month.
The weather service issued a red flag warning for the entire New York City region on Friday, predicting wind gusts of up to 30 mph. The service warned that “fires could start and spread rapidly” and to “avoid any outdoor burning.”
According to the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, “a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and dry fuels will significantly elevate fire growth potential.”
In an X post Friday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged residents to “stay vigilant” and call 911 in the event of a fire.
“Any fire that sparks will catch and spread quickly in these conditions,” according to the tweet.
Prospect Park, which includes Grand Army Plaza and the stately Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch at its northern entrance, spans 526 acres from Park Slope and Prospect Heights to Windsor Terrace and Flatbush. It features a zoo and a skating rink among its attractions.
Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue described the park as “an incredible community resource” and a critical urban forest.
“It is Brooklyn’s oldest standing forest, a valuable asset to the community. “It’s the city’s lungs,” she explained at the press conference.
