Overnight rain likely extinguished all but most stubborn elements of the brush fire that began last Thursday and burned through over 350 acres of parkland on Clausland Mouintain in Orangeburg, but it took a large coordinated effort by volunteer firefighters, police and other emergency responders to get to that point.
"It was phenomenal," Rockland County Fire Coordinator Gordon Wren said. "I still have the mental image of what it looked like at daybreak Friday versus when the sun went down. It was a dramatic difference. It had to be coordinated properly. To coordinate to cover that much area took good planning and leadership. I credit a tremendous amount to (Orangeburg Fire Chief Neil Lynady), to him and his officers. All the mutual aid. Everyone worked seamlessly together."
The work often involved using shovels to dig into the ground to get to smoldering parts of the blaze in cooperation with helicopters from West Point Military Academy and Westchester County Police Aviation dumping water on it from buckets.
"The helicopters help, but boots on the ground get things done," Wren said.
Lynady said he was impressed with how so many volunteers from fire departments from Rockland County, Westchester County, Orange County and Bergen County all worked together.
"You would have thought we did this all the time," Lynady siad. "It was amazing. I'm really proud of my guys.
"As many guys as were out there, we had hundreds of volunteers out there."
The efforts went beyond firefighters, with more than 160 out at one time on Friday, to local businesses and residents supporting efforts to put out the blaze.
"The people and businesses of Orangetown and Rockland County, we had donations coming in," Lyandy said. "They were phenomenal. Somebody read about it online and contacted a local pizza place and had pizzas sent to the fire house. She was from Colorado. The Holiday Inn offered to put people up if they were displaced. Local eateries kept bringing food. The ladies' auxiliaries were phenomenal. I can't say enough."
The injuries were minor. They were concerned one firefighter injured in a fall had broken his ankle, but Lynady said it looks more like a bad sprain.
Lynady said he had never seen anything like the fire locally. He said parts of it are still probably smoldering, but nothing that could threaten any nearby people or properties. The fire department handed over observation of the area to park rangers Sunday.
"(That land) hasn't burned since the early '60s, so there are years of leaves and decaying branches sitting up there smoldering," Lynady said. "We knocked it down as best we could. "I've lived in this town my whole life, 51 years and I've been in the fire department for 32. We've never, ever had anything like this in Orangeburg. Never had anything like it in Orangetown."
The fire started near Tappan Zee rock on Clausland Mountain at approximately 1 p.m. Thursday. The Rockland County Sheriff's department is still investigating the cause.
It did spread close to some homes on Tweed Blvd. very early Friday morning, but firefighters were able to contain it.
For more on the fire, see these reports on Patch:
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