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Brush Fire Warning Issued for New York City

By Nicholas Rizzi | May 16, 2016 11:14am
 The National Weather Service issued an alert for an increased chance of brush fires in New York City on May 16, 2016.
The National Weather Service issued an alert for an increased chance of brush fires in New York City on May 16, 2016.
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DNAinfo/Nicholas Rizzi

NEW YORK CITY — The National Weather Service issued a warning Monday morning about an increased risk of brush fires in New York City.

The humidity is expected to drop to 25 to 30 percent Monday afternoon. That, combined with wind gusts of 30 to 35 mph, creates a greater chance of flames spreading, NWS meteorologists said.

The threat of brush fires is low for most of the city except Staten Island — which has had several large blazes in recent years linked to the prevalence of invasive reeds called phragmites that can quickly fuel the flames, the New York Times reported.

Depending on the wind speed, phragmites can burn between the size of one to three football fields per minute, the Times reported, and elected officials have worked to develop a plan to decrease the risk of fires in the borough.

This year, Borough President James Oddo said he worked to restore some brush fire units to FDNY houses in the borough and was working on restarting talks to develop a new Community Wildfire Protection Plan with city and state agencies.

"These fires get so intense," Oddo said.

"They're dangerous, so this comprehensive plan is about saving property and saving lives and also protecting firefighters."