Bellone: Brush fire 'as serious as it gets'
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone speaks on the scene of a massive brush fire in the pine barren region near Ridge. (April 9, 2012) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Bellone, speaking at a news conference at the command post in Ridge about 8 p.m., said several residents in the area were evacuated ahead of the fire adding it's not yet under control." He did not rule out more evacuations.
"Moving forward with evacuations, if any are necessary," he said, "We will be reaching out to those residents directly. We also have fire and police personnel who will be going door to door in those neighborhoods if additional evacuations are necessary."
Many firefighters were being called back to the perimeters of the fire for their safety as darkness fell, Bellone said.
"We are fortunate that the area that we are talking about here is a very isolated area in terms of homes, residences and buildings," Bellone said. "There are scattered homes throughout the area that have been evacuated."
Bellone urged residents to stay off the high-occupancy vehicle lanes of the eastbound Long Island Expressway, as fire authorities used that lane to race to the scene.
He asked county residents to refrain from calling 911 because the system was being overloaded.
Bellone said he will make a decision Tuesday morning whether the National Guard should be called in with helicopters that can drop water.
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