Crime & Safety

Mahwah Firefighters Help Squash 10-Acre Park Fire

It took about 75 firefighters from a number of local departments several hours to put out a blaze on a mountain in the southern end of the Harriman State Park in Suffern Sunday evening

The Mahwah Fire Department was one of a handful of local departments that fought a tree and brush fire on a mountain in Suffern that grew into a 10-acre blaze Sunday, authorities said Monday afternoon.

According to fire officials, Mahwah firefighters spent about four-and-a-half hours Sunday evening helping fight a fire that broke out on one of the slopes of a mountain in Harriman State Park off Route 202 in Suffern.

Because of the nature and location of the fire, normal fire trucks could not reach it, so the MFD responded to the mutual aid call with its mini pumper and a force of ATVs, Fire Chief Ed Garza said.

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Crews “had to drive up the mountain to transport [firefighters] and equipment up and down,” he said.

According to an article on lohud.com, Mahwah’s crews were just part of the 75-firefighter contingent it took to fight the blaze. In addition to the Suffern and Mahwah Fire Departments, Ramsey, and units from Hillburn, Hillcrest, Tallman, New City, Thiells, Sloatsburg, and Spring Valley, NY, all responded, lohud.com reported.

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Firefighters responded to the fire at about 2:30 p.m., and were on scene until about 7:30 p.m., due to the size of the fire, and its location, which officials said was difficult to get to, the report said.

According to lohud.com, no one was injured in the fire and no homes were damaged, but “the fire produced a thick and hazy cloud of smoke that could be seen for miles.”

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