Jennings Creek wildfire explodes to 5,000 acres, delays one of nation's oldest Veterans Day parades

NEW YORK CITY — A wildfire raging on the border of New York and New Jersey exploded overnight to 5,000 acres, prompting officials on Monday to postpone one of the oldest Veterans Day Parades in the nation.

As firefighters battled the Jennings Creek Fire straddling the border between Orange County, New York, and Passaic County, New Jersey, organizers of the 80th annual West Milford, New York, Veterans Day Parade, announced the event will be delayed until Nov. 24, due to the ongoing emergency.

"I cannot in good conscience detract from all the hard work our firefighters, police officers, first responders, DPW personnel and our community leaders are currently facing in dealing with wildfires along the East Shore area," Rudy Hass, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7198 in West Milford, said in a statement.

Hass said many firefighters battling the Jennings Creek Fire are military veterans.

"Right now we need to keep them in our thoughts as they spend many hours, day and night, doing all they can in order to protect our great communities in that area," Hass said.

The blaze broke out Saturday and burned drought-parched wildland stretching from the West Milford in Passaic County, New Jersey, to the Sterling Forest State Park in New York's Orange County, and on both the New York and New Jersey sides of Greenwood Lake, officials said.

Despite the first measurable rain in the area in more than a month, the fire grew from about 2,500 acres on Sunday to over 5,000 acres, or about 4.7 square miles, by Monday morning, according to the New York Forest Fire Service.

The fire has burned about 2,500 acres on the New York and New Jersey sides of the fire, a forest ranger for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said at a news conference Monday.

Firefighters made progress battling the fire Sunday night, increasing containment from 0% to 20%, officials said.

At least 25 structures remain threatened by the conflagration, including eight historic structures in New Jersey's Long Pond Ironworks State Park, a historic 175-acre village where iron was produced during the Revolutionary War, officials said.

A New York State Parks and Recreation aid was killed on Saturday helping the battle the Jennings Creek Fire, officials said. The deceased parks employee was identified Sunday by the New York State Police as 18-year-old Dariel Vasquez.

The New York and New Jersey forest services have teamed up to fight the fire on both sides of the state line.

Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus said numerous residents living near the fire have complied with voluntary evacuations.

"We had about 40 homes and residents that move out voluntarily, we really didn't have to encourage them too much because they saw out their windows a major firestorm coming their way," Neuhaus told ABC New York station WABC.

While Sunday's light rainstorm was welcomed on the fire line, the precipitation did little to extinguish the fire, officials said. Overnight, about 0.25 inches of rain fell across the fire area.

"This provided an opportunity to rest several of the crews who have been working non-stop to contain this fire," the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said in a social media post on Monday morning. "Today, crews are back on scene and will continue to improve containment lines and address area of concern."

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Chief Bill Donnelly of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said at a news conference Sunday that it could take crews until the end of this week to extinguish the blaze.

The fire came amid blustery winds and drought conditions in New York and New Jersey, which before Sunday hadn't seen any rain in more than a month, officials said.

Since Oct. 1, New Jersey firefighters have responded to 537 wildfires that have consumed 4,500 acres, including about 40 fires that ignited between Friday and Saturday, according to Donnelly. Forest Ranger Jeremy Oldroyd, of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, said New York fire crews have battled 60 wildfires since Oct. 1, and they have burned 2,100 acres.

At one point over the weekend, New Jersey firefighters were simultaneously battling at least six significant brush fires that ignited across the state, including a second large wildfire in Passaic County.

The "Cannonball 3" fire began on Friday afternoon near Passaic County's Pompton Lake and grew to 181 acres. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service announced Sunday afternoon that firefighters had achieved 100% containment on the fire.

Another wildfire in New Jersey -- the Shotgun Fire -- started Wednesday and burned 350 acres of the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area in Jackson Township before firefighters gained control of the blaze, officials said. Officials said the cause of the fire was arson.

Investigators concluded the fire began behind a berm at the Central Jersey Rifle & Pistol Club in Jackson, New Jersey, and was caused by magnesium shards of a "Dragon's Breath" 12-gauge shotgun round, which ignited materials on the berm. Firing incendiary or tracer ammunition is illegal in New Jersey, authorities said.

Richard Shashaty, 37, of Brick Township, surrendered to the police on Saturday. He was charged with arson and violation of regulatory provisions relating to firearms, officials said Saturday.

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