Greenwood Lake evacuees return home, prepare for storm that could stir up wildfire debris
All homes are currently safe according to the DEC, though the agency did warn residents about rain expected to begin Wednesday night.
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As evacuees returned to their homes east of Greenwood Lake and firefighters put out hotspots from a wildfire that has burned more than 5,300 acres, residents were expecting another challenge.
Carly Hires and fiancé Daniel Greenfield are among the last Greenwood Lake residents cleared by firefighters to come home.
They evacuated for a second time Saturday evening when the fire jumped a containment line near Edgemere Avenue.
The couple was back Wednesday, clearing dry vegetation from their yard and trying to rid their home and car of a smoke smell.
"It still smells like not a good kind of fireplace smell," Hires said.
They were not even sure Saturday if they would have a house to return to.
Greenfield shared a photo he took Saturday from the front yard that showed flames across the street.
"It was right here approaching Edgemere. That, I would say, was the most dangerous," he said. "We didn't know whether or not it would cross the road, so it was just touch and go."
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said Wednesday that the fire is boxed in by fire containment lines and is now 90% contained.
All homes are currently safe according to the DEC, though the agency did warn residents about rain expected to begin Wednesday night.
The DEC is asking the public to be prepared for sediment and leftover debris to be streamed through their neighborhood due to the hilly landscape.
"We always have rain problems," retiree Trish Rivera said. "The water comes down from the mountain."
Rivera said she was prepared for the stormwater to move a lot of ash and dirt and is prepared for the water to be extra dirty.
"We have this wood to divert it away from the house," she said, pointing to a makeshift barrier by her porch, "and if it rolls down to the lake, it rolls down to the lake."
Firefighters spent much of Wednesday drenching hotspots until they were cool to the touch, the DEC said.
Local officials expect the rain to help put out the fire and are warning residents the fire's remnants may temporarily block roads.
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