(CNN) — Dangerous wildfires were burning on the East and West coasts Monday, with firefighters in New York and New Jersey working to contain a deadly blaze sparked by an ongoing historic drought – while high winds hit Southern California could fuel a destructive fire in Ventura County.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings Tuesday for southeastern New York, areas along the New Jersey-New York state border where the Wildfire is burning. Jennings Creek, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Warnings indicate an increased risk of wildfires due to strong winds and dry air, urging residents to exercise caution.

THE Jennings Creek Fire has burned about 3,500 acres in parts of New York and New Jersey and is 20% contained, the New Jersey Wild Fire Department said. on Monday evening. Although Sunday’s rain helped slow the fire’s progress, dry weather and high winds were expected to persist through the week, the department’s Deputy Division Firefighter Christopher Franek said at a conference. press release Monday.

Although no civilian injuries were reported, an 18-year-old member of the Wildland Fire Department was killed while responding to the blaze over the weekend, officials said Sunday . Dariel Vasquez died Saturday afternoon when a tree fell in the fire area.

Vasquez recently graduated from Ramapo High School, where he was a member of the school’s varsity baseball team, the East Ramapo Titans.

Anthony Vasquez, 50, described his late first cousin as “a remarkable young man” and “a family man.” And his death “almost divided us,” Vasquez said.

“We are very close, our family. It has become a community service family where we help each other and the community,” Vasquez told CNN.

Dariel Vasquez was a leader among his peers, a teenager who loved playing baseball and “worked hard at his craft,” he said. The 18-year-old wanted to become an electrician, according to his cousin, and was planning to study electricity at university next January.

On the other side of the country, strong winds are expected to return to Southern California this week. This makes us fear mountain firewhich damaged and destroyed dozens of homes in Ventura County, could spread after calmer weather over the weekend allowed firefighters to contain it up to 36%.

Special weather statements were also issued for eastern Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, where humidity levels are slightly higher.

Wind advisories are in effect through Tuesday for parts of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, where gusts of 50 mph to 60 mph are possible, although a cold front could bring a slight chance of rain.

The Mountain Fire has resulted in thousands of evacuation orders, with some families already returning to find their homes damaged or burned to the ground.

Flames had burned about 20,600 acres as of Sunday evening, according to Cal Fire. Since the fire broke out on Wednesday, 192 structures have been destroyed and 82 others damaged. Six injuries were reported, including five civilians and a firefighter, officials said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials are looking into whether power lines may have contributed.

While California is accustomed to raging wildfires, New York hasn’t seen a fire season like this year since 2002, according to Jeremy Oldroyd, a forester with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. State. Nearly 600 wildfires have burned nearly 7,000 acres in New Jersey and New York since October 1, according to authorities.

Most of the fires occurred in New Jersey, where the state’s wildland fire department responded to 537 wildfires. That’s nearly 500 more than the same time last year — and the flames have taken about 4,500 acres, Donnelly said.

“New Jersey has never seen anything this dry since we started keeping records, which is one of the obstacles we face,” Donnelly said. “We’ve had fires in New Jersey burning since July 5, if that’s any indication of the drought and what we’re facing.”

After reports of a wildfire and another two-alarm wildfire in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park on Friday evening, New York City Mayor Eric Adams banned grilling in parks of the city. The city has experienced 120 bushfires in the past 10 days, according to a press release from the town hall. Adams warned residents to take precautions against fires and take steps to conserve water during the drought.

Houses destroyed by flames

In California, as authorities assess the damage caused by the Mountain Fire, Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said he was “grateful for the number of lives saved and that we have not reported no deaths.”

“I know we suffered a lot of damage, but thousands of homes were saved and hundreds of lives were saved. I know we’ve made mistakes, but we will learn from those mistakes,” Gardner said during a community meeting Sunday evening.

Gardner pointed out that the number of residents in the fire-affected area — about 30,000, 7,000 of whom are non-English speakers — made evacuating the area difficult.

“We were fortunate that the fire started at 9 a.m., with daylight,” said Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff. “Imagine this at 9 p.m., where it is already dark. Then you lose power in an already dark area, and then you have smoke on top of that. It could have been exponentially worse.

Agricultural officials assessing the impact of wildfires on farmland planted with avocados, citrus and berries estimate the damage at more than $6 million. County Agricultural Commissioner Korinne Bell said Monday that officials were only a quarter of the way through their survey of the damage and expected total losses to rise.

As the situation evolves, residents are urged to stay informed and prepared for changing conditions.

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