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

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

He Jennings Creek Fire It has burned about 3,500 acres in parts of New York and New Jersey and is 20% contained, the New Jersey Wildfire Service said. in X Monday afternoon. While Sunday’s rain helped slow the fire’s progress, dry conditions and strong winds are expected to continue throughout the week, the service’s Assistant Division Firefighter Christopher Franek said during a news conference Monday.

While no civilian injuries have been reported, an 18-year-old wildland fire crew member died while responding to the fire over the weekend, authorities said Sunday. Dariel Vásquez 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 second cousin as “a stellar young man” and “a family person.” And his death “almost destroyed us,” Vásquez said.

“We are very close, our family. It became a community service family where we helped each other, helping the community,” Vásquez told CNN.

Dariel Vásquez 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 be an electrician, according to his cousin, and had plans 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. Generates fears mountain firethat has damaged and destroyed dozens of homes in Ventura County, could spread after calmer weather over the weekend allowed firefighters to achieve up to 36% containment.

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 to 60 mph are possible, even as a cold front could bring a slight chance of rain.

The Mountain Fire has prompted thousands of evacuation orders, and some families have already returned to find their homes damaged or burned to the ground.

The flames had burned about 20,600 acres as of Sunday night, according to lime fire. Since the fire broke out on Wednesday, 192 structures have been destroyed and another 82 damaged. Six injuries have been reported, including five civilians and a firefighter, authorities said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but authorities are investigating whether power lines may have contributed.

While California is used to devastating wildfires, New York hasn’t had a fire season like this year since 2002, according to Jeremy Oldroyd, a forest ranger with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Nearly 600 wildfires have burned nearly 7,000 acres in New Jersey and New York since Oct. 1, according to officials.

Most of the fires occurred in New Jersey, where the state’s Wildland Fire Service responded to 537 wildfires. That’s nearly 500 more than the same period last year, and the flames have claimed about 4,500 acres, Donnelly said.

“New Jersey hasn’t seen anything this dry since we started keeping records, which is one of the obstacles we face,” Donnelly said. “We have fires in New Jersey that have been burning since July 5, if that’s any indication of how dry it is and what we’re facing.”

Following reports of the wildfire and another two-alarm wildfire in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park on Friday night, New York City Mayor Eric Adams banned barbecues in city parks. The city has seen 120 wildfires in the last 10 days, according to a statement of the mayor’s office. Adams warned residents to take fire precautions and measures to conserve water during the drought.

Houses lost to fire

In California, as officials assess damage from the Mountain Fire, Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said he is “grateful for the number of lives that were saved and the fact that we have not “no deaths reported.”

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

Gardner noted that the number of residents in the area affected by the fire (about 30,000, including 7,000 who are not native English speakers) made evacuating the area a challenge.

“We were lucky that the fire started at 9 a.m., when it was already daylight,” said Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff. “Imagine this at 9 at night, where it is already dark. Then you lose power to an area that is already dark and then there is smoke above it. “This had the opportunity to be exponentially worse.”

Agricultural officials assessing the impact of the wildfires on cropland planted with avocados, citrus and berries estimate damage at more than $6 million. County Agriculture Commissioner Korinne Bell said Monday that officials have completed only a quarter of their damage study and expect total losses to rise.

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

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