Ghastly wildfires in New York and New Jersey claim 18-year-old hero firefighter

The Jennings Creek Fire, located about 30 miles northwest of New York City, has now torched some 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) and is 20% contained, according to officials at a press conference given by the New York State Parks department.

Half of the containment is in New York and the other half is in New Jersey, officials said, adding that rainfall overnight did allow firefighting crews to rest.

Meanwhile in California, gusty winds threatened to help a massive wildfire there expand.

Wildfire outbreaks are a relatively common occurrence in California, but the East Coast blazes are unusual.

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18-year-old firefighter killed in Jennings Creek blaze

The Jennings Creek fire has already killed one person, an 18-year-old employee of New York State Parks department, according to local police. Police said in a statement that Daniel Vasquez died while battling the fire as it ripped through Sterling Forest on the shore of Greenwood Lake.

In California, firefighters have slowly gained on the 20,630 acre (8,350 hectares) Mountain Fire as it burned about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Los Angeles.

The fire, which started last Wednesday, was 36% contained after destroying more than 160 structures, according to Cal Fire.

The area remains on high alert as winds were expected to strengthen on Monday and into Tuesday with gusts reaching 45 miles (72 km) per hour, the National Weather Service said in its forecast.

As much as a half inch of rain was recorded in several East Coast cities overnight, the National Weather Service in Mount Holly reported. Some cities, like Trenton, New Jersey, had not seen rain in 42 days, the service said.

“This will NOT have any meaningful impact on the drought, but should briefly quell the extreme fire danger,” the service said, as overnight rain gave way to clear skies on Monday morning.

Northern New Jersey was downgraded to “very high” fire danger on Monday morning, from “extreme” before the rain. The southern third of the state was still considered “extreme,” while Central New Jersey’s danger was rated “moderate,” the state’s forest service said on its website.

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Englewood Cliffs fire impacts NYC air quality

Overall, New Jersey’s forest fire service reported about 10 separate wildfires in different parts of the state over the past week, including one in Englewood Cliffs, across the Hudson River from uptown New York City, where haze was visible and the air smelled of smoke over the weekend.

Other New Jersey blazes were much smaller than the Jennings Creek fire and were largely contained by Monday, according to the local forest fire service.

On Friday night, a two-acre fire broke out in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, damaging its last remaining forest called Ravine in Prospect Park, according to Prospect Park Alliance, an organization that sustains the park. The fire was extinguished by Saturday.

A 37-year-old New Jersey man has been charged with arson and violation of provisions relating to firearms after he fired a shotgun round that ignited combustibles and started a wildfire in Ocean County, the local prosecutor said over the weekend.