A large brush fire with flames reportedly 40 to 50 feet high broke out in Manorville on Tuesday afternoon.
The Manorville Fire Department said that the fire was at Weeks Avenue and North Street.
At least 30 fire departments are at the scene, which is located just south of the Long Island Expressway.
A spokeswoman for the Town of Brookhaven said that so far five homes have been evacuated. She said that the blaze is scattered across a 600-acre undeveloped industrial area, but not all of that woodland is on fire.
The 2:42 p.m. train from Ronkonkoma due in Riverhead at 3:27 p.m. was canceled and replaced with bus service due to the fire, according to the Long Island Rail Road. The 3:58 p.m. train from Riverhead due Ronkonkoma at 4:43 p.m., will also be canceled due to the fire. Customers will be accommodated by bus service.
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This follows last week’s massive brush fire in the same area. All fire departments from Suffolk County and some departments from Nassau County responded Monday night to fight the blaze.
Last Tuesday Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency in Suffolk County. The fire burned about 1,200 acres of woodlands, destroyed three homes and injured three firefighters. And on Friday, a brush fire broke out on SUNY Old Westbury’s campus, but was quickly contained.
The fires are a result of Long Island’s first severe drought since 1999. The National Weather Service has had the tri-state area under a red flag warning, which means that the combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and dry fuels are creating an elevated fire growth potential.
The public is being urged to be careful with discarded cigarettes and while cooking on BBQ grills. There is also a state ban on residential brush burning that is in effect through May 14.
