Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Provides Update on Wildfires Impacting New York State

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul provided an update on wildfires burning across New York State and has deployed a multi-agency response to fires in Orange and Ulster counties in close coordination with local fire departments and first responders. Aerial investigation shows the Jennings Creek/Sterling State Park wildfire, which is in both New York and New Jersey, now encompasses 5,000 acres, half of which is in New York, and is 10 percent contained in both states. The fire in the Town of Denning, Ulster County is 95 percent contained within 630 acres. Governor Hochul also announced a statewide burn ban is in effect until November 30 due to an increased fire risk as the State continues to experience drought conditions.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page has photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

Good afternoon. I wanted to take a few moments here to give a critical update on the wildfires that are affecting our state. Right now we have [11] wildfires, varying degrees of size and dangerousness, but particularly here in Orange and Ulster counties, I'd like to give an update.

Right now, New York State is facing the largest wildfire since 2008. I've been in regular communication with an extraordinary leader we have here in Orange County, our County Executive Neuhaus, who unfortunately, we've had a lot of experience working on disasters together and your team has always been so integrated with ours and I'm so grateful for that. Also working closely with the County Executive of Ulster County, Metzger.

I want to share our current response right now. Most of the fires are contained, but we have a couple that still require our immediate attention. Ulster County, the Whitehouse fire reached between 600 and 700 acres. Reports are it's contained. We're watching it closely as the winds continue to pick up.

But right now, our greatest concern is the Jennings Creek fire here in Orange County. It has spread over 2,700 acres across the border, 5,000 if you include the acreage across the line with New Jersey. So a 5,000 acre fire, 2,700 acres of which are here in the State of New York.

Neither of these fires are controlled or contained at this moment. Some of the residents have been voluntarily evacuated, but I want to emphasize that at this moment, no structures are currently under threat.

Last night we had a very difficult touch and go situation, but I thank God for the teams we had on the ground that created the fire line necessary to protect these individuals' homes. They work so hard. It's a beautiful community, and I cannot imagine the level of stress that the residents of this great area of our state are going through right now.

We've mounted a comprehensive state response since Friday. DEC Forest Rangers are leading the firefighting efforts supported by New York State Park Rangers.

As I mention the Park Rangers, I have to mention something that just breaks my heart to have to say, we did lose an 18-year-old, a brand new young man who just had his whole life ahead of him. Dariel Vasquez lost his life while trying to protect the lives of others. And we've extended our condolences to his family, but I'm sure that's a wound that will take forever to heal.

It reminds us of the dangerous work that these individuals do. When you look at the videos of the fires taken at close range on cell phones, it is frightening to see what individuals — and many are professionals, but also many are volunteer firefighters who've come from over 47 companies across the State of New York. I just saw some from East Hampton down the road trying to support their brothers and sisters in uniform as we deal with these difficult challenges.

I also want to talk about our response right now. State Police helicopters are doing water drops and drone surveillance, I witnessed that as I came in on a helicopter a short time ago. Right now we have two National Guard Black Hawk helicopters. We have been requested by the County Executive to continue our efforts to drop the water, which is so essential. We're bringing in Chinook helicopters, which have greater capacity. We just have to rotate the teams in and out. But we are there till the end.

We also have State Fire Emergency Management Coordination, doing an amazing job, DOT Heavy Equipment is here, as well as I mentioned, the local fire departments. We have over 377 heroes, people who left their security of their homes that are on the ground, and 66 of whom are state workers.

And again, I've done a lot with our volunteer fire companies over the last couple months, just going out there talking about how we're trying to invest in their training, trying to encourage more people to join the ranks. It is a family, and when something like this happens, the way they pull together and do everything from feed each other, look out for each other whether they're in the station, hearing their most recent directions and commands, or whether they're out there in a forest that is scorching with fire, hard to breathe. I am so in awe of all of them, and as the Governor of this great state, I am forever grateful to all of them.

The conditions we're facing are still pretty dire. This is one of the driest Octobers we've had on record. This has been a challenge for us because normally, starting in September, you see a lot more rainfall, the ground is saturated, and something like this would not have taken hold. We have not received enough rain. We had a little bit of rain over the last 48 hours, but not enough to extinguish the fires. And unfortunately, there's no significant rainfall predicted in the immediate forecast. We're actually currently under a drought watch, level two of five on our drought scale. This requires water conservation, asking all New Yorkers to participate, but not a cause for panic.

But it's absolutely critical that New Yorkers avoid any outdoor burning at this time. We have announced — we're announcing today a statewide burn ban because the threats are too great. And we cannot have our resources directed to smaller fires. We need everybody, all hands on deck on the major scale fires we have right here.

So I'm asking everyone to comply with this until further notice. What that means is to completely avoid outdoor burning. Don't leave any campfires, but you should not have campfires in the first place. So don't leave them unattended, but don't have them. Exercise extreme caution with outdoor grills and report fires immediately.

And again, as I said, start conserving water. Stay alert and monitor your local forecasts and law enforcement alerts. And we're hoping that cooler temperatures and higher humidity will help, but here we are. We'd love to have no wind. The winds are going to reach [35] miles an hour today. And that is just going to create turmoil, chaos, and a lot of uncertainty that we don't need right now.

Now we're expecting that traditional weather conditions that we expect this time of year and through the winter, should provide some relief from the drought, but we don't know how long this will last. This could be an atypical winter. So again, the conservation efforts we're asking everyone to undertake should continue for months.

Again, I want to thank our first responders. I come here in person through floods and tornadoes and unbelievably, the same neighborhood that was affected with the fire had a tornado just this past year. And I want to thank all of them for stepping up and being there as we protect New Yorkers’ homes and their lives.

Our number one priority is keeping New Yorkers safe. With that, I'd like to introduce my incredible partner in government, County Executive Steve Neuhaus, but I want to acknowledge — I forgot to acknowledge — all the individuals here, when the noise stops.

I want to acknowledge we have the Mayor of Greenwood Lake here. Also the supervisor, that's Thomas Howley. Supervisor Jesse Dwyer from Warwick. I want to thank him. This is one of the largest communities in the State of New York. It's important that we have strong leadership. He's brand new on the job, but he's doing a fantastic job.

Commissioner Jackie Bray, the head of DHSES, our Department of Homeland Security; Randy Simon, our Interim Commissioner of Parks; Major General Ray Shields of the National Guard; Major Michael Sumnick, Troop F Commander; Bryan Gallagher, the New York State DEC Forest Ranger, he's our incident commander. I want to thank Bryan Gallagher. Bryan, where are you? All right, Bryan I'm so impressed with what you're doing. Your command of knowledge, the way you've been directing these operations. I feel we are much safer because we've had you guiding our efforts here. I want to thank you for that. Let's give him a round of applause, Bryan Gallagher.

Assemblymember Karl Brabenec here. I want to thank our Assemblymember for joining us as well. And again, I want to list all the agencies. When you talk about a whole of government approach to solving problems, this is it. DEC, Homeland Security, State Police, Parks, DMNA and our Department of Transportation all on hand and sending all the resources.

We will not leave this crisis until we feel comfortable that everyone and every property is safe.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce County Executive Steve Neuhaus.