Brush Fires by Amagansett Tracks Extinguished

A few small pockets of brush fires were extinguished in the field just north of the train tracks in Amagansett on Thursday around noon.

Dave (Buzzy) Browne said a brake malfunction on a train that had just pulled out of the may have sparked the fires. He said the extreme wind and dry land can make matters worse.

Winds are from the south-southwest at 21 miles-per-hour, gusting to 24 miles-per-hour in Amagansett, according to the National Weather Service. 

The sprayed water throughout the 1.5 acre field behind the IGA and Ocean View Farm, off of Montauk Highway, to put out the hot spots, said Chief Mark Bennett. "It looks like straw, but it's grass," he said. "We went around and hit it with the brush trucks."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the Long Island Rail Road, was on scene and reported a train had left just three to four minutes earlier, though that could be confirmed.

The fire marshal said people should be careful disposing of cigarette butts and fireplace ashes during these types of weather conditions.

Around the same time on Thursday afternoon, ashes that had been dumped outside of under the building. The Bridgehampton Fire Department quickly extinguished it.

On Wednesday morning, Browne reported that smouldering ashes from a fireplace caused a fire off of Old Stone Highway in Springs that caused some interior damage.

The Amagansett Fire Department also responded to a fire on Windmill Lane on Wednesday afternoon that started with an electrical problem, that caused a brush fire and an exterior deck and wall to be slightly damaged, Browne said.