Fire burns woods near Mohonk ridge line

A 5-acre woods fire on the Mohonk Preserve ridge line was about 70% contained Thursday afternoon before strong thunderstorms forced a halt to the firefighting effort.

New Paltz Fire Chief Cory Wirthman said in a prepared statement said the effort to douse the blaze would resume Friday.

Wirthman said his department was alerted early Wednesday about smoke coming from the ridge. The chief said he investigated and found a large column of smoke coming from the ridge area, directly west of Cragswood Road.

With help from the town of New Paltz Highway Department, the village of New Paltz Department of Public Works, Mohonk Preserve rangers, the Ulster County Department of Emergency Services and the Tillson Fire Department, an access point was located and a drone was deployed to find the exact location of the fire, the chief said.

“Shortly after, it was confirmed that there existed a large woods fire in a very difficult to access area of the ridge,” other agencies were called in to help, according to a New Paltz Fire

Department press release. The department said firefighters from New Paltz, Highland, Gardiner, Rifton, Esopus and Accord were at the scene Thursday, along with state forest rangers and Mohonk Preserve rangers.

Crews were able to reach the blaze on foot and coordinated with the forest rangers and “air-toground fire-suppression operations,” the department said.

Cragswood Road remained closed to all but local traffic on Wednesday, and the Mohonk Preserve Spring Farm Trailhead was closed until further notice.