ULSTER COUNTY - Crews working through the night, state forest rangers and firefighters from various state agencies and local fire companies have made significant progress toward halting a wildfire that has raged through Minnewaska State Park in Ulster County. The fire is 80 percent contained and minor injuries have been reported. 

State Department of Environmental Conservation rangers and firefighters have slowed the fire’s progress considerably, with the blaze gaining roughly 100 acres in the last 24 hours as compared to the 2,000-acre advance it made Saturday.

That is attributable to several factors. Favorable weather conditions raised the humidity, lowered temperatures and lessened the wind’s impact. Helicopters, dumping large buckets of water directly on the fire, have been instrumental in lowering the temperature of the fire. The helicopter operations also allowed crews to stay on the fire non-stop for the first full day since the blaze began.

Previously, crews had to be pulled off the fire at times because the extreme temperatures made conditions unsafe. Overnight, crews using bulldozers were able to cut a fire line in front of the fire’s projected path. Such lines are crucial to halting wildfires. This is the largest wildfire in the state in 13 years. The last wildfire of this scale was the "Sunrise Fire" in Suffolk County in 1995. 

The fire, which has consumed 3,100 acres in the park, is considered 80 percent contained. The front of the fire is about five miles east of Cragsmoor and has generally moved southwest from where State Routes 44/55 enters the park from the north. It had grown from about 100 acres mid-Friday to 1,000 acres Friday night to 3,000 acres Saturday night.

Rangers will focus on buttressing the fire line and lighting back fires to suppress the fire. Helicopters are still supporting the efforts today. The rough topography limits motorized access to the head of the fire, blocking trucks from reaching it.

Only minor injuries have been reported by fire crews. The lone structural loss was a ranger hut inside the park.