Westhampton wildfire sparks call for stronger Suffolk County fire planning

A backyard mistake in Manorville has sharpened the wildfire conversation in western Southampton, where pine barrens, wind and dry brush can turn a small flame into a fast-moving East End emergency.

Suffolk County Police said the March 8, 2025 fire started around 9:30 a.m. on North Cozine Road, when people tried to make s’mores and used cardboard to get the fire going. With winds around 35 mph and dry fuel conditions, the blaze spread from Manorville through East Moriches, Eastport and Westhampton, burning more than 600 acres before it was stopped just west of Gabreski Airport.

The response was sprawling. About 80 volunteer fire departments and 10 EMS agencies were called in, while other accounts put the total at more than 90 fire and ambulance companies. The New York Army National Guard deployed four helicopters for water drops, and the fire came close enough to raise concern about Gabreski Airport and nearby commercial facilities in Westhampton. County Executive Edward P. Romaine was among the officials involved at the airport as crews worked to contain the fire.

That scare is now feeding a new planning push. The Central Pine Barrens Joint Planning and Policy Commission has received grant money to prepare a Community Wildfire Protection Plan for the Southampton section of the pine barrens, covering land from Eastport to Squiretown Road in Hampton Bays and north to Riverside and Flanders, bounded to the south by Montauk Highway. The commission held the first of three public informational meetings May 5 at the Flanders Community Center, where residents were invited to weigh in through small-group discussions and idea boards.

The plan is meant to identify where communities face the greatest risk, how to reduce fuel and how to make homes less vulnerable to ignition. SWCA Environmental Consultants is preparing the plan, and project manager Arianna Porter has described the danger in straightforward terms: the places most at risk are where homes sit close to combustible landscape. The commission says communities with CWPPs can also become eligible for federal funding for wildfire mitigation.

The broader warning is not new to the Pine Barrens. The commission says years of fire suppression have left hazardous vegetation in place, and its Prescribed Fire Management Plan divides the region into five fire management units. After the 1995 wildfires, the commission created the Wildfire Task Force, which now includes representatives from 41 agencies, including 16 fire departments. The 1995 Sunrise Fire burned about 4,500 to 7,000 acres and lasted several days to 10 days, a reminder that Suffolk’s wildfire problem is not distant, theoretical or confined to the West.