Suffolk County fire officials express concerns about overgrown forest areas

FLANDERS (WABC) -- Fire officials across Suffolk County are expressing concern over cluttered forest areas that are posing a serious threat to first responders.

Flanders Fire Chief Joe Pettit says the risk is real, as the pine barrens of eastern Long Island are bone dry and littered with dead and dying trees.

"We have trees that have fallen across the trail," Chief Pettit said. "That's an obstacle for us to go."

It's especially bad in county nature preserves, where many wildfires take hold, sending armies of volunteer firefighters plunging into the woods in five-ton trucks to put them out.

But the fire lanes, which are designated paths through the forests, are so overgrown and clogged with brush that the trucks are getting stranded. It happened over the weekend, and firefighters are furious.

Riverhead Chief Joe Raynor says trucks are getting damaged and volunteers are being put at risk.

"It could be very dangerous," he said. "If we get hung up and we have a big fire roaring at you, you're not going to outrun it."

There are hundreds of homes that border the preserves, and Chief Pettit says those neighborhoods are now more vulnerable to wildfires his volunteers can't reach.

"My concern is that I don't want to ever have to tell somebody you have to leave your house," he said. "And then go back hours later and say we couldn't save your house."