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New Jersey-New York wildfire keeps burning, fed by dry, windy conditions

Reinforcing winds and bonedry conditions were preventing firefighters working to gain control of a stubborn wildfire burning in a forested stretch along the New YorkNew Jersey state border about 50 miles (80 km). northwest of New York City. The Jennings Creek Fire, which straddles the border in between. Passaic County, New Jersey, and New york city's Orange County, has. torched some 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) of brush and thick. woodland near Greenwood Lake and eliminated a park employee.

The blaze, which began late recently, was 20% included,. the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said on Tuesday on Facebook. The cause of the fire was undetermined.

The conditions will produce chaos, mayhem and lot of. uncertainty that we don't need right now, New York Guv. Kathy Hochul stated during a press conference near the site of the. fire. She stated some 15 blazes were burning in her state in an. abnormally busy wildfire season.

New York City State Police and National Guard helicopters were. dumping water on the blaze, while more than 375 firemens. developed fire lines to protect homes and consist of the blaze. No structures were being threatened on Tuesday, but some. citizens in the rural area had evacuated, Hochul stated.

The National Weather condition Service provided a Red Flag caution that. included parts of New york city, New Jersey. Connecticut,. Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It stated wind gusts were expected. to reach 45 miles (72 km) per hour with humidity levels around. 20% in the area.

The chances for more rain are not looking great for the next. week or two, stated William Churchill, a meteorologist with the. National Weather condition Service's Weather Forecast Center in College. Park, Maryland.

Conditions are just expected to get a little much better on. Wednesday, he stated, with winds anticipated to reduce.

The area remains in the middle of one of the driest falls on. record. It received its very first quantifiable rainfall since. mid-September on Monday, giving firemens some, but short,. relief.

The conditions we're facing are still pretty dire, Hochul. stated, urging locals to avoid outdoor burning.

The fire was accountable for one death. New York state. forest ranger volunteer Dariel Vasquez, 18, was killed by a. falling tree while fighting the fire on Saturday, authorities. stated.

In New Jersey, 10 separate wildfires in different parts of. the state burned over the previous week, consisting of one in Englewood. Cliffs, throughout the Hudson River from uptown New York City, where. haze showed up and the air smelled of smoke over the weekend.

Other New Jersey blazes were much smaller than the Jennings. Creek fire and were mostly contained, according to fire. authorities.

Northern New Jersey was updated to extreme fire risk on. Tuesday. The southern third of the state was at high, while. Central New Jersey's threat was ranked extremely high, the state's. forest service stated on its website.

Wildfire break outs are a reasonably common occurrence in the. West, however the East Coast blazes are uncommon. In California,. firefighters have slowly gained on the 20,630-acre. ( 8,350-hectare) Mountain Fire as it burned about 50 miles (80. km) northwest of Los Angeles. Since Tuesday, it was 48%. included.

(source: Reuters)