FDNY battles brush fire at Inwood Hill Park in Upper Manhattan
NEW YORK -- Firefighters battled a brush fire in Upper Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon.
The FDNY said reports of smoke and flames in a large area inside Inwood Hill Park, near Seaman Avenue and West 207th Street, came in just after 2:30 p.m.
Nine units and 45 firefighters initially responded. No injures were reported.
The FDNY was attacking the fire from the river, spraying the side of a hill. Smoke above the tree line and lines of orange flames were captured on video by Chopper 2.
"New Yorkers in and around Inwood, our teams are responding and monitoring the large plumes of smoke you may have seen in the sky caused by a burning brush fire. During this time, it's a good idea to close your windows, turn air purifiers on, and avoid traveling in the area," Mayor Eric Adams said on X.
As of 7:15 p.m., the FDNY said the main body of the fire had been knocked down and crews were still working on putting out small pockets of fire.
The blaze follows last week's brush fire in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, which consumed two acres.
Just Wednesday morning, FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker said the department had responded to 229 brush fires since Oct. 29, the highest amount in a two-week period in the city's history.
New York City under drought watch and Red Flag Warning
Along with other parts of the state, the city is under a drought watch due to the weeks-long dry stretch across the region. Less than 3 inches of rain has fallen in Central Park since September, and October was the driest month ever recorded in the city.
A Red Flag Warning was also re-issued for the area earlier this week, meaning the danger for fire is very high because of a combination of high winds and parched earth.
