Above: Video of fire at the Tamarack Lodge from the Times Herald-Record.
Wildfire raged across the property of the former Tamarack Lodge on Route 52 in Greenfield Park over the weekend, destroying dozens of buildings and calling hundreds of firefighters and other emergency first responders to the scene.
The Times Herald-Record reports that police believe the fire was caused by an intentionally-set brush fire that got out of control. The property's owners, an Indian tribe that once had plans to build a casino on the site, are not suspected of arson.
[Chief Ron "Golden Eagle"] Roberts said his tribe did not start the fire, explaining that the bankruptcy and sale of a portion of the property would have allowed him to save his struggling tribe's land holdings, including the 10 homes where members of his tribe lived. He added that he did not have insurance on any of the buildings damaged by the fire.
"Why would I destroy something I tried to save?" he asked.
The Daily Freeman reports that about 20 people were displaced by the fire.
On Sunday, Wawarsing town Supervisor Scott Carlsen said it was the worst fire in his area of Ulster County that he has ever seen.
“Just the nature of how fast it moved because of the high winds,” Carlsen said. It jumped (Route) 52 and went from the structures into the forest; we had fires in the woods.”
Brush burning during the spring months, when wildfire risk is high, is banned in New York State. Since 2009, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has prohibited open burning between March 16 and May 14.
High winds and dry weather have prompted the National Weather Service to issue several "Red Flag Warnings" recently, meaning that conditions are right for the rapid spread of wildfires. Currently, in the Catskills region, there are Red Flag Warnings in effect for Greene, Ulster, Delaware and Sullivan Counties.
