Fire crews from Oswego County are reflecting on their experience helping out with a large wildfire in Orange County.
Oswego County Fire Coordinator Shane Laws joined Granby Center Fire Department, Volney Fire Department, Lacona Fire Department, Oswego Town Fire Department, Novelis Fire Department, and Phoenix Fire Department as part of a mutual aid request.
"It looked like a barren wasteland, some of the areas,” said Laws. “Because everything in certain areas that we went through, it was all black and burnt."
Alistair Hayden, a professor in the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health at Cornell University, said low levels of precipitation created conditions that led to the fires downstate. He said climate change is causing a longer fire season in general. But that’s not the whole picture.
“Changing human behaviors, especially moving into wildland areas where homes are near forests, they're in grasslands, is another important factor, as well as our forest management,” he said.
Hayden said the effects of the wildfires can be devastating, from damaging communities to affecting the air quality miles away. He recommends New Yorkers keep an eye out for posted burn bans before starting a fire that could have been prevented.
As efforts continued downstate, Laws said he and his fellow firefighters were happy to help.
"You don't know these people, these other fire departments you're working with, but by the end of the day, they're like you've known them for 10, 20 years. You work side-by-side with them, you all have a mission, and you work together to accomplish that,” he said.
