LI firefighters bring Suffolk brush fire under control Saturday

Firefighters from 26 departments battled a brush fire that charred roughly 20 acres of woods in Dix Hills and Deer Park on Saturday afternoon.

The blaze started about 1:30 p.m. in the Edgewood Oak Brush Plains Preserve and spread south from Dix Hills to Deer Park, fire officials said. It was under control about 5:15 p.m., said Deer Park Fire Chief Larry Bradbury.

"It's very dry out," Bradbury said. "There was low humidity. There was high wind. That contributed to the spread of the fire." About 20 acres were burned, he said.

Firefighters from departments as far as Holtsville and Bethpage drove heavy-duty "stump jumper" vehicles, loaded with chain saws and hoses, through the thickly wooded New York State preserve.

The first firefighters to respond found multiple fires burning in the woods, Bradbury said. The cause was unclear.

Fire departments formed a staging area at a Deer Park Fire Department training facility on Commack Road next to the preserve and about a half-mile from the edge of the blaze. Bradbury estimated 200 to 300 firefighters responded.

No one was injured and no structures were damaged in the blaze, fire officials said.

The last major brush fire in the 813-acre preserve was about nine years ago, Bradbury said.