Willow Lake Brush Ignites

by Jillian Abbott, Chronicle Reporter

04/24/2008

 Flames from a brush fire leapt 20 feet high, and smoke blackened the skies, shutting down the Van Wyck Expressway near the Willow Lake section of Flushing Meadows Park on Friday.  A relay of helicopters hovered over the park carrying water to douse the flames.

 Bus drivers milled around Jewel Avenue, their parked buses adding to the traffic chaos in the area.    “When I first saw the blaze on 208th Street, around 2 p.m., the flames were above the street lights. They told us to stop driving and we haven’t moved since,” said driver Bob Graziano, as he stood at the corner of Jewel Avenue and the Grand Central Parkway waiting for the order to return to his bus.    By 3:30 p.m., the Van Wyck was open again, but Jewel Avenue was still blocked even to pedestrian traffic. “I’m just trying to get to my home for the holidays,” said a man who was told he couldn’t walk across the Jewel Avenue bridge over the Grand Central Parkway.    Police and firefighters at the scene could not confirm how the fire started or how many acres were affected. “It’s all over,” said one, as he walked up the ramp from the expressway, his face smeared black with carbon.    Friday was the warmest day of the year so far, and just as the weather brought people outside to enjoy the spring sunshine, the sky darkened and plumes of smoke rose hundreds of feet into the air engulfing the roads and nearby homes.    Christian Villarroel, a Fire Department spokesman, said that the fire was a three alarm, meaning that 138 firefighters in 33 fire vehicles were called. The FDNY received the call at 12:26 p.m. and the fire was declared under control at 3:20 p.m.    Located near the train yard at Union Turnpike and 141st Street, the fire was classified as a rubbish fire because it took place in brush, not buildings.    Villarroel was unable to confirm how many acres had burned by Monday, although the cause and extent of the fire is under investigation by fire marshals. No injuries were reported.  The Flushing Meadows Corona Park Conservancy had planned to celebrate Earth Day, 2008 with a walk around Willow Lake on Sunday, but were forced to cancel because of the fire. “Acres of it were burned out,” said Pat Dolan, FMCPC president, noting that Willow Lake Natural Area is a New York state protected wetland.
   
While a fire such as this can renew wild places, Dolan didn’t see the need in an urban setting. “This is a rare stretch of green in the middle of the city,” she said adding that the nearby residents of Forest Hills wouldn’t be happy. Judging by past experience, however, it is anticipated that the area will be green again within a month.   According to NY1, despite the fire trucks and helicopters, about 20 acres of wetlands were damaged.   Greg Godfrey, president of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park World’s Fair Association, said that nature has her forces of renewal. “The smoke was intense with large embers carrying through the wind across the Van Wyck Expressway,” he said, noting that the smell of smoke quickly reached the Unisphere.    He blamed the Parks Department for not maintaining the area properly, adding that the man-made nature preserve should have been on the Parks Department’s watch list, and the overgrown marshes should have been the subject of a program to prune the growth. “I went out for a simple bike ride through the park, left coughing and cleaned carbon off my face when I returned home.”   Dorothy Lewandowski, Queens parks commissioner, explained that Willow Lake was not a lawn area, but a wild area, and the reeds there provide habitat for animals. “The combination of dry vegetation, warm weather and children home from school on break, can sometimes lead to fires,” she said. 
   
Although she couldn’t confirm that the fire was started by children, she said that there had been reports of youngsters fleeing the area around the time the fire started.   Godfrey was outraged that the lives of firefighters were put in jeopardy and said that the police had to send basketball players in the park home because of smoke. “Too bad the smoke was blowing northeast and not toward City Hall — maybe the “green” mayor would finally see the smoke signals that all is not well in the park systems of the ‘outer boroughs,’” Godfrey said.