Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan announces crews are continuing the battle to put out the Napanoch Point Fire and working on containment 

A new fire at Minnewaska State Park Preserve has developed which is now included in the response and all access points to the park will be closed August 30th until further notice 

A community meeting with fire response officials will be held on August 30th at 7pm at the Ellenville Junior/Senior High School Auditorium

ELLENVILLE, N.Y. - Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan announced this evening that crews are continuing the battle to put out the  Napanoch Point Fire in Minnewaska State Park Preserve and working on containment. The Napanoch Point Fire has increased in size due to vegetation, terrain and weather conditions. A new fire, the Stony Kill Fire at Minnewaska State Park Preserve has developed, which crews are responding to, assessing and working to contain.

All access points to Minnewaska State Park Preserve, including the Sam’s Point Area, will be closed Tuesday, August 30th, until further notice, to maintain public safety. Anyone with reservations for Saturday, Sunday or Monday over the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend will be notified and refunded. All visitors must adhere to these closures.

Over the next 24 hours, the response team will be committing an additional 60 firefighters to the operation, and doubling resources to four helicopters for airdrops and 24 all-terrain vehicles. There will be firefighting activities on Berme Road from Port Bend to Ellenville, working on installing a contingency line. Expect to visually see smoke coming off the fires on the mountain.

A community meeting with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Forest Rangers and staff volunteers, Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) staff and Ulster County Department of Emergency Services staff will be held at the Ellenville Junior/Senior High School Auditorium at 28 Maple Avenue in Ellenville on Tuesday, August 30th, at 7pm. This will be an opportunity for residents and others in the impacted area to ask questions about the coordinated fire response. Anyone who can not access the community meeting may call the Ulster County Service Center at (845) 443-8888.

Call 911 to report a wildfire. For general questions or concerns, call the Ulster County Service Center at (845) 443-8888, Monday-Friday, 9:30am-4:30pm.

Regular updates on the status of the fire response will be posted on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @UlsterNY.

Photos: Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan and DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos at the command center in Ellenville on August 29th, 2022; The Napanoch Point Fire on August 29th, 2022

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