MAHOPAC FALLS – Despite drenching downpours in recent days, several brush blazes have kept Putnam firefighters on the go—fires that officials said could have been averted.
Mahopac Falls FD personnel battled a stubborn brush fire behind a residence along Yonke Road Sunday morning. It took the volunteer first responders some 90 minutes to contain and extinguish the fire.
Other brush blazes were reported over the weekend in Patterson, Southeast, Lake Carmel and Garrison.
Putnam County Commissioner of Emergency Services Robert Lipton said the majority of the brush blazes resulted from carelessness on the part of the public.
Lipton urged the public to never discard a lighted cigarette out of the window of a moving vehicle. He also cautioned residents to have a garden hose or other water supply on hand whenever cooking out of doors on a grill. “All it takes is a single spark and a major brush blaze can occur.”
