Long Island hasn’t seen much rain, and that’s led to a growing concern about brushfires.

”Over the last several months, we’ve had the drought, and we are worried that the grass, the leaves, it’s so dry that anything could start a brush fire," says George Gorman, regional director for New York State Parks, Long Island.

Fire watch patrols have been deployed at state parks with woodland areas.

There have been several brushfires over recent weeks at some Long Island state parks, including Hempstead Lake State Park and Connetquot River State Park Preserve.

Those, according to Gorman, weren’t large.

Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine released the following statement to News 12:

“Due to extremely dry weather, all fires will be banned in campgrounds until further notice. This includes all campfires, and smokers should use caution when extinguishing cigarettes. I want to thank all of the first responders who have been working to protect our communities.”

The Town of Brookhaven released the following information to News 12:

Together with Supervisor Daniel Panico and the entire Town Council, Chief Fire Marshal Christopher Mehrman is requesting all residents of the Town of Brookhaven not to conduct any type of outdoor recreational fires, including the use of fire pits, chimineas, and outdoor fireplaces, during this time of extremely dry atmospheric conditions. The lack of precipitation over the last 30+ days has left ground cover extremely dry, and with the addition of falling leaves, conditions are unfortunately favorable for fires to spread easily.

“This is a fire safety initiative we are asking all town residents to assist with” said Chief Fire Marshal Mehrman. “The possibility of unintentional fire spread from recreational fires is of great concern in these conditions, we all need to do our part.”