A volunteer Forest Ranger and state employee died last Saturday after responding to a forest fire on the New York New Jersey border. The forest fire was reported to have sent smoke over New York City. Dariel Vasquez was the name of deceased parks and recreation employee who tragically died as he bravely fought the spreading fire. State police reported that he was battling the forest fire at Greenwood Lake about 35 miles northwest of New York City. The Jennings’s Creek fire was responsible for Vasquez’s death stemming from Greenwood Lake Turnpike and East Shore Road in West Milford, Passaic County, as well as in Orange County, New York. Before Vasquez’s death he had recently graduated from Ramapo high school and was a member of their varsity baseball team. Greenwood Lake Mayor Tom Howley posted condolences for the deceased service man. He bravely fought on his own accord putting his life on the line for others. An ongoing drought causing dryness paired with high winds in the Mid-Atlantic northeast caused a series of forest fires in the area. The Jennings’s Creak fire was one of the many recent blazes. As of Sunday, it had burned 2500 acres and was still spreading. Approximately 25 structures have been threatened by this specific fire though no one has been evacuated.