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FDNY battles 2-alarm brush fire while NYC is under drought watch

The brush fire on Staten Island is the fifth fire in the borough during a citywide drought watch due to low precipitation

By Scott R. Axelrod
Staten Island Advance

NEW YORK — The FDNY responded to a large brush fire burning through an area of Brookfield Park in Great Kills on Wednesday afternoon.

According to an FDNY spokesperson, the two-alarm blaze was called in just after 4 p.m. in the vicinity of Arthur Kill Road and Brookfield Avenue.


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Twenty-five units and 106 FDNY /EMS personnel raced toward the flames in the midst of heavy rush hour traffic as thick, heavy smoke could be seen billowing into the late afternoon sky.

Several people in the vicinity of the fire were ordered to leave by members of the FDNY.

No injuries were reported as the fire was brought under control just before 6 p.m. according to the FDNY. The cause remains under investigation.

This is at least the fifth such fire in the borough, with the first four occurring in a section of Clove Lakes Park as late as Tuesday night.

New York City is currently under a drought watch as of Nov. 2; the last significant rainfall — approximately one inch of precipitation — occurred on Sept. 29.

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