KINGSTON
- Wednesday was a day for assessing how the 3,100-acre wildfire in Minnewaska
State Park was handled, with Ulster County's emergency management director
saying reported conflicts between state and local entities were exaggerated,
and three elected lawmakers calling for a review of procedures.
Also
Wednesday, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said it
determined the fire was started by burning cigarette that was discarded on a
scenic overlook along U.S. Route 44/state Route 55.
The
developments came a day after two controversies arose: some people who live
near the fire site complaining they were not kept informed about blaze as it
grew, and local fire chiefs saying the fire lasted longer and grew larger than
it should have because the state intervened and stopped local crews from doing
their job.
Ulster
County Emergency Management Director Arthur Snyder said state and local
officials worked well together.
"I
pride myself and Ulster County on a great working relationship with all
emergency responders. This has been unprecedented cooperation of county and
state resources," Snyder said on Wednesday. "Unfortunately, by a few
people discussing their dissatisfaction and disappointment, the fire will be
over and we'll have a lot of work to do to patch up relationships. Those take
years to build and just a minute to screw up."
County
Legislator Frank Dart, who heads the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Safety
Committee, which oversees the Emergency Management Department, said he
understood the "big department vs. small department" mentality of
state and county officials, but he added that he thought the Emergency
Management Department did its job well during the fire, which started last
Thursday and was declared fully contained on Tuesday.
"Our
people got their noses bent out of shape because they've been fighting fires
out there for over 100 years and they know the terrain," said Dart, a
retired Kingston firefighter. "They were doing their best and got upset
because state and federal officials came in with their big Tonka toys."
Dart,
D-Kingston, said he would like to speak with Snyder about getting all the
involved parties - state, federal and local - into a room together to talk
about what could have been done better during the fire.
County
Legislature Chairman David Donaldson agreed.
"We
need to understand why they (local firefighters) were pulled off," said
Donaldson, D-Kingston. "I don't know what the state's reasoning is, it
was not communicated to us."
State
Sen. John Bonacic went further, calling for an evaluation by the state Office
of Fire Prevention and Control to examine the state's cooperation - or lack of
it - with local firefighters.
"I
am concerned when I hear from local officials that they feel the state was not
responsive to their suggestions," Bonacic, R-Mount Hope, said in a
prepared statement. "We need to evaluate the level of state and local
cooperation."
Bonacic
also called for a review of procedures used to apprise the public of what's
happening during an emergency like the Minnewaska blaze, formally known as the
Overlook Fire.
But
Donaldson, Snyder and DEC officials challenged the allegation that Minnewaska
neighbors were not kept informed.
"(Emergency
Services) is overwhelmed, but they're doing what they should," Donaldson
said. "There has not been any reason to alarm people that they have to
(evacuate)."
Said
Snyder: "If we thought there was any danger to anyone, they would've been
notified. There were things already in place that people weren't aware
of." He was referring to the fact that arrangements had been made with
the Red Cross to set up a shelter for any fire evacuees.
(Freeman 4/24/08)
DEC
spokesman Yancey Roy said a public information meeting about the fire was held
Sunday morning in Cragsmoor and the firefighters went door to door to the
approximately 40 homes in the Kerhonkson Heights neighborhood near the park.
Donaldson
also said communication was adequate.
"I'm
sorry if people are upset about the communication, but they should feel free
to call into Emergency Management for updates," the Legislature chairman
said.
Snyder
said there was effective coordination between state and local officials, with
the DEC sending experts in public information, logistics and planning. The
state also provided local officials with twice-daily briefings on weather
conditions, including wind variables and humidity levels.
"By
coming here, they were not intending to take over, but to support the local
effort," Snyder said. "We don't want the public to think we can't
get along. ... Everything that has been done has been a unified
decision."
Roy
said the fire remained "100 percent contained" on Wednesday but that
fire officials were not yet ready to use the word "extinguished."
As
for the wildfire being started by discarded cigarette, Roy said investigators
were able to rule out a campfire as the cause and said typical arson patterns
did not exist.
Also
Wednesday, Route 44/55 near Minnewaska, closed since Saturday morning because
of the fire, was reopened to traffic, though the park remained closed.
