Community comes together for funeral of parks employee killed battling Jennings Creek Wildfire
GREENWOOD LAKE, New York (WABC) -- Friends and family are saying goodbye to a young firefighter who was killed during the effort to control the Jennings Creek Wildfire in Greenwood Lake, New York.
Dariel Vasquez, 18, was a State Parks Wildland fire crew member who was killed while helping to clear dry brush from catching fire.
Local fire departments, neighbors, friends and family gave a hero's salute at St. Peter's Church in Haverstraw on Monday morning.
Vasquez was a 2024 graduate of East Ramapo Central School District and is being remembered as a dedicated student, gifted athlete and a leader among his classmates and teammates.
"Dariel was always someone who brought a bunch of color to the room, no matter what you were going through, he could always make you laugh and smile," his friend Giovanni Arache said.
Vasquez is also being honored at the state level as Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered flags to be flown at half-staff.
"He actually just recently started at the park's department, he was excited, he worked this summer at a local park and loved it with his cousin, and he enjoyed going to work every day, so he continued in the fall and was super excited, and he definitely was the kind of kid where if you needed anything, he said yes, he wouldn't hesitate at any given time, we spoke to a couple coworkers that were there and dealt with him at work, and they said he was the person they counted on," his aunt Erika DeJesus said.
The effort to fight the Jennings Creek Wildfire started more than a week ago on Nov. 9. So far it has burned more than 5,000 acres in both Passaic County in New Jersey and Orange County in New York. As of Monday, it is 90% contained.
On Monday, officials lifted the voluntary evacuation for some families in the Greenwood Lake area and the school district announced it will reopen on Tuesday.
Still, officials say they could use some help from Mother Nature more than ever.
"It's kind of a waiting game because it's safer to let it come to you than climb this terrain and try to extinguish it in the middle of things," state forest ranger Bob Rogers said. "This fire is not going out anytime soon, this is going to be Mother Nature putting the final lid on this one."
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