Jennings Creek wildfire fully contained

GREENWOOD LAKE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The Jennings Creek fire at Sterling Forest State Park in Orange County was 100 contained by Friday night. The fire burned for two weeks.

Officials said 427 fire companies sent more than 1,300 firefighters and equipment to battle the blaze. Crews attacked the fire from the ground and air with help from Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters. Rain and snow on Thursday and Friday aided in dropping the ground temperature and suppressing the fire.

"For two weeks, firefighting crews and staff responded from around the state to battle the Jennings Creek wildfire, and today, they were successful in fully containing the fire,” Governor Kathy Hochul said. “From the start, we launched a coordinated response with every available resource to help our first responders complete this mission and could not have done this without the professional and volunteer crews that worked alongside our partners in New Jersey, and crews from Colorado and Montana. I thank all of them for their hard work, spending time away from their families and working tirelessly every day to keep New Yorkers safe."

To date, the fire has burned 5,304 acres across New York and New Jersey since Nov. 8. The fire is fully contained and controlled. While several responders have demobilized, fire crews from the New York State Department of Conservation, Parks forest rangers and Montana will continue to patrol the perimeter as some fire may remain within the deeper forested interior of the park.

Despite recent rain, New York state remains under a burn ban until Nov. 30. The ban prohibits outdoor fires for brush and debris disposal, uncontained campfires, and open fires for cooking. Backyard fire pits, contained campfires, and contained cooking fires are allowed.

Sterling Forest State Park will reopen for hiking and hunting on Saturday east of Long Meadow Road and north of Route 17A. Trails in the fire zone will remain closed indefinitely.

This was New York’s largest wildfire since 2008.