Rare brushfire in New York stoked by heat, drought

Over a 100 firefighters battled a rare brushfire in New York City's Brooklyn borough as prolonged drought and unusually high temperatures have fuelled a series of blazes in the northeast United States, authorities said Saturday.

There were no immediate reports of damage to buildings in the blaze late Friday in the Prospect Park area, and by Saturday all but a few hot spots had been extinguished, reports said.

Mayor Eric Adams warned on X: "After the driest October on record, NYC is under a drought watch, which highly increases our risk of fires."

Hundreds of brushfires have broken out in New Jersey and Connecticut in recent weeks amid an unseasonably warm and dry fall -- including three blazes that forced evacuations and roads closures, reports said.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the flames that affected roughly two acres (0.8 hectare) in a popular meadow known as the Nethermead in Brooklyn.

Twenty-five fire units, some using drones, responded to the fire, officials said. One firefighter suffered a minor injury and was taken to a hospital.