New York parks employee dies fighting fires; Air quality advisories issued in New York and New Jersey.

POMPTON LAKES, N.J. (AP) — A New York parks employee died fighting one of several wildfires in New Jersey and New York amid dry conditions that have prompted air quality warnings in both states, officials said Sunday.

The worker was killed when a tree fell on him Saturday afternoon while fighting a large wildfire along the New York-New Jersey border, according to reports from East Dutchess County Fire and Rescue and forestry services. of New York State.

“Ray, brother, your shift is over, job well done,” the New York State Forest Services post read.

New York State Police said they were investigating the death amid the Sterling Forest fire located in Greenwood Lake and identified the victim as Dariel Vasquez, an 18-year-old state Parks and Recreation assistant employed by the Parks Office. New York State Recreation and Services. Department of Historic Preservation.

The fires in New York and New Jersey come as firefighters also battle a wildfire in California.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Wildland Fire Service reported that the fire had spread to 3.9 square miles (approximately 10 square kilometers) near the border in West Milford of Passaic County and Orange County, New Jersey. York. Officials said Sunday that the fire, called the Jennings Creek wildfire, was now threatening 14 Greenwood Lake structures, as well as two New Jersey homes and eight buildings in that state’s Long Pond Ironworks Historic District.

Health advisories were issued for parts of New York, including New York City, and northeastern New Jersey due to poor air quality due to smoke from the fires. People were urged to limit, if possible, strenuous physical activity outdoors; Among those especially sensitive were the very young and the very old and people with ailments such as asthma and heart disease.

Meanwhile, New Jersey officials reported 75 percent containment of a 175-acre (70-hectare) fire in the Pompton Lakes area of ​​Passaic County that threatened 55 homes, although no evacuations had been ordered.

Fire progress was also reported in the Bethany Run area on the Burlington and Camden county line in Evesham and Voorhees townships; a fire along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs in Bergen County; and the Pheasant Run wildfire in the Glassboro Wildlife Protection Area in Gloucester County.

Ocean County prosecutors announced Saturday afternoon arson and firearms charges in connection with a 350-acre (142-hectare) fire in Jackson Township that started Wednesday. They said it was caused by magnesium fragments from a shotgun bullet on the edge of a shooting range. Authorities said firing that type of “incendiary or tracer ammunition” was prohibited in the state. Most of the fire has been contained, authorities reported Friday.

In Massachusetts, one of several wildfires fueled by powerful gusts of wind and dead leaves burned more than 200 acres in the Lynn Woods Preserve, a municipal park comprising about 3.4 square miles (8.8 square kilometers) in the city 10 miles (16 kilometers) north. from Boston.

“This is a drought wave we have not seen during this time of year in many years,” the Lynn Fire Department said in a statement on social media as firefighters continued to battle the fire, blaming its declining intensity humidity, as well as winds and dry leaves on the ground.

It was one of many wildfires that broke out across the region. In Foxborough, fire crews said containing a wildfire in the F. Gilbert Hills State Forest would be a “multi-day event.”

Wind gusts exceeded 40 mph (64 kph) on Saturday and less powerful gusts continued on Sunday.

Firefighters and forestry agencies warned against open burning.

Drier than normal weather is expected to continue, with virtually all of New England classified as drought or abnormally dry. Most of the region was expected to see some light rain Sunday night, but no major rain events are forecast, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jerry Combs.

Firefighters in California We also battled several fires over the weekend, including one north of Los Angeles that had burned more than 100 structures.

Evacuation orders were downgraded to warnings for residents in several areas of Ventura County, where the Mountain Fire remained at about 32 square miles (about 83 square kilometers) and was 26% contained, officials said.

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