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Long Island firefighters plunged their off-road trucks straight into the heart of raging wildfires that erupted in the Pine Barrens on Saturday, battling intense flames and thick smoke as they worked to contain the rapidly spreading blaze.
Dramatic videos supplied by the Manorville Fire Department captured the harrowing scene as firefighters navigated their off-road trucks through thick woodlands, seemingly surrounded by fire at times.
Flames lapped dangerously close to their vehicles, as crews worked hose lines and pushed against an inferno that has blackened vast stretches of woodland along Sunrise Highway’s south side from the Hamptons Bays to East Moriches.
Square in the heat of the battle. Firefighters jumped in off-road fire vehicles to reach the blazes on Long Island on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/09sqJCBURT
— Greater Long Island 📰 (@Greater_LI) March 9, 2025
Officials are saying it was a perfect storm of environmental factors that triggered blazes. Weeks of dry weather combined with Saturday’s whipping winds created ideal conditions for rapid fire spread.
Compounding the danger: the Southern pine beetle has left its deadly mark across the region in recent years, killing thousands of acres of pine trees that now stand as brittle, ready fuel.
As of Saturday night, the fires were 80 percent contained, according to officials.
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Manorville Fire Department firefighters on the frontline battling the Pine Barrens wildfires. pic.twitter.com/K4Cs7MxFMv
— Greater Long Island 📰 (@Greater_LI) March 9, 2025
The fire’s massive smoke plumes seemingly had the attention of the entire county, if not all of Long Island. It was visible even from Connecticut.
By Saturday afternoon, the situation had escalated enough for Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore to declare a state of emergency. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul followed suit, mobilizing the National Guard and other state resources to support local firefighting efforts.
Helicopters were deployed in the fight against the Long Island wildfires on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/w4bqMQxDPG
— Greater Long Island 📰 (@Greater_LI) March 9, 2025
