Southampton Town Bans All Outdoor Fires as Threat of Brush Fire Grows

Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore last week declared a townwide state of emergency over the threat of wild fires due to the extreme dry conditions thanks to months without rain and expected periods of high winds.

The state of emergency will remain in effect for 30 days unless it is rescinded or extended.

The supervisor’s announcement on Friday, November 8, pointed to the long stretch of dry weather — now nearly three months — during which only trace amounts of rain have fallen across the town. According to the National Weather Service, the last measurable rainfall on the East End was on August 20.

On Tuesday, November 12, the town updated the state of emergency to prohibit until further notice all outdoor fires and burning activities of any kind.

Moore’s declaration said that dry conditions, combined with the possibility of high winds and the presence of ample fuel for fire in dead pine trees killed by the southern pine beetle infestation, have heightened the risk of wildfires across the town.

“Such conditions threaten and/or imperil the public safety of the citizens of the Town of Southampton due to the elevated threat of extreme wildfire possibility that has also been characterized by the National Weather Services as an ‘Explosive Fire Growth Potential’ for our area,” the announcement stated.

The supervisor said she was directing all town departments including the Police Department, the Parks Department, and the Department of Public Safety to take whatever steps are necessary to protect life, property, and public infrastructure, and to perform other emergency assistance as deemed necessary.

A brush fire fanned by high winds broke out on the side of Sunrise Highway in East Quogue on October 14, but was snuffed out by local firefighters who said it could have been a much worse situation had the wind been blowing from another direction.

Fires have broken out this week in several locations in Suffolk County and in upstate. On Tuesday, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine announced that he has deployed firefighters from 10 departments — including the East Hampton Fire Department, Amagansett Fire Department and Eastport Fire Department — to Orange County to help fight the Jennings Creek Wildfires, which have already burned more than 2,300 acres.