18-year-old crew member killed as firefighters battle wildfires burning on both coasts

Southern California — Dangerous wildfires are burning Monday on the East and West coasts, with firefighters in New York and New Jersey working to contain a deadly blaze spurred by an ongoing, historic drought – while strong winds in Southern California could fan a destructive fire in Ventura County.

The Jennings Creek Fire has scorched approximately 3,500 acres across parts of New York and New Jersey and is 20% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said on X Monday evening. While rain on Sunday helped slow the fire’s progress, dry conditions and high winds are expected to continue throughout the week, Assistant Division Firewarden Christopher Franek with the service said during a news conference Monday.

“That’s just at the limit of when our helicopters can fly,” said New York State Forest Rangers spokesperson Bryan Gallagher. “Our hope is that it doesn’t get any worse than that, so could still use our air assets tomorrow.”

While no civilian injuries have been reported, an 18-year-old Wildland Fire Crew member was killed while responding to the blaze over the weekend, officials said Sunday. Dariel Vasquez died Saturday afternoon when a tree fell over in the fire area.

Vasquez recently graduated from Ramapo High School, where he was a member of the school’s varsity baseball team, the East Ramapo Titans.

Anthony Vasquez, 50, described his late second cousin as “a stellar young man” and “a family person.” And his death has “nearly taken us apart,” Vasquez said.

“We’re very close, our family. He grew into a family of community service where we’re about helping each other, helping the community,” Vasquez told CNN.

Dariel Vasquez was a leader among his peers, a teen who loved to play baseball and “worked hard at his craft,” he said. The 18-year-old wanted to be an electrician, according to his cousin, and had plans to study electrical work in college this coming January.

On the other side of the country, forceful winds are expected to return to Southern California this week. It raises fears the Mountain Fire, which has already damaged and destroyed dozens of homes in Ventura County, could continue to spread Monday after calmer weekend weather allowed firefighters to get its containment up to 36%.

Wind advisories are in place for parts of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, where gusts of 50 to 60 mph are possible, even as a cold front could bring a slight chance of rain.

The Mountain Fire has prompted thousands of evacuation orders, with some families already having returned to find their homes damaged or burned to the ground.

Flames had burned around 20,600 acres as of Sunday night, according to Cal Fire. Since the fire sparked Wednesday, 168 structures have been destroyed and another 67 damaged. Six injuries have been reported, including five civilians and one firefighter, officials said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but officials are looking into whether power lines may have contributed.

While California is used to raging wildfires, New York has not had a fire season like this year since 2002, according to Jeremy Oldroyd, a forest ranger with the state’s environmental conservation department. Nearly 600 wildfires have burned nearly 7,000 acres in New Jersey and New York since October 1, according to officials.

Most of the fires were in New Jersey, where the state’s Forest Fire Service has responded to 537 wildfires. That’s nearly 500 more than the same period last year – and the flames have claimed about 4,500 acres, Donnelly said.

“New Jersey hasn’t seen anything this dry since, you know, we began keeping records, which is one of the obstacles we’re facing,” Donnelly said. “We have fires in New Jersey that have been burning since July 5, if that’s any indication of how dry it is and what we’re dealing with.”

After reports of the wildfire and a separate two-alarm forest fire in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park on Friday night, New York City Mayor Eric Adams banned grilling in the city’s parks. The city has seen 120 brush fires in the last 10 days, according to a release from the mayor’s office. Adams warned residents to take fire precautions and steps to conserve water during the drought.

Homes lost to the blaze

In California, as officials assess the damage already inflicted by the Mountain Fire, Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said he’s “grateful for the number of lives that were saved and the fact that we have zero reported fatalities.”

“I know we suffered great damage, but thousands of homes were saved and hundreds of lives were rescued. I know we made mistakes, but we will learn from those mistakes,” Gardner said during a community meeting Sunday night.

Gardner pointed out the number of residents in the fire-affected area – about 30,000, including 7,000 who are nonnative English speakers – made evacuating the area challenging.

“We were fortunate that the fire started at 9 o’clock in the morning, with daylight,” said Jim Fryhoff, the sheriff of Ventura County. “Imagine this at 9 o’clock at night, where it’s already dark. Then you lose power in an area that’s already dark, then you have smoke on top of that. This had the opportunity to be so exponentially worse.”

As the flames spread last week, residents were forced to evacuate at a moment’s notice. Jamie Randall and her husband left their Camarillo home with just two suitcases of clothes. When they returned late last week, they were shocked to discover little left of their property but burn scars and ash.

“I never thought in my wildest dreams, you know, that this would be the last time I would be standing at my house,” Randall told CNN affiliate KCBS/KCAL.

Terrie Morin, who fled with her husband and friends, recalled the panic: “Get the dog. Get out of here. You don’t have time, just get out!” As they escaped through thick smoke, they could only grab a few essentials.

As the community grapples with loss, many families are left to face the aftermath.

Stan Jensen and Dawn DaMart were over 1,000 miles away when their home in Camarillo was engulfed in flames. The couple watched in despair as news footage showed their house burning.

“We had a person working at the house doing remodeling and he said, ‘I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but your house is burning down,’” DaMart said.

A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday to connect residents with service providers as part of the recovery and relief efforts.

Agricultural officials assessing the impact on farmland planted with avocados, citrus and berries have estimated the damage at $2.4 million, the Ventura County Star reported. County Agricultural Commissioner Korinne Bell cautioned Friday the figure represents only 2% of the burned area, which encompasses approximately 12,000 acres of farmland, and the total cost is likely to rise, the Star reported.

As the situation evolves, residents are urged to stay informed and prepared for changing conditions.

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