POMPTON LAKES, NJ – A New York park worker dies New Jersey and New York are battling one of a series of wildfires amid dry conditions that have prompted air quality warnings in both states, officials said Sunday.

East Dutchess County Fire and Rescue, the New York state forestry service, notified the worker that he died Saturday afternoon when a tree fell on him while fighting a large brush fire along the New York-New Jersey border, officials said.

“Rip bro your shift is over, good job,” the post read.

New York State Police said they were investigating the death in a fire at Sterling Forest in Greenwood Lake and that the victim was Dariel Vasquez, an 18-year-old Parks and Recreation deputy who worked for the New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and History. Department of Conservation.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Wildfire Service reported that the spreading fire had spread over more than 3 square miles (about 8 square kilometers) near Passaic County’s border with West Milford and Orange County, New York. The fire, called the Jennings Creek wildfire, threatened two homes and eight buildings in the Long Pond Ironworks Historic District.

Health warnings have been issued for parts of New York and northeastern New Jersey due to unhealthy air quality due to smoke from the fires. People were urged to limit strenuous physical activity outdoors if possible; Those particularly vulnerable included the very young, the very old, and people with conditions such as asthma and heart disease.

Meanwhile, New Jersey officials reported that a 175-acre (70-hectare) fire that threatened 55 homes in the Pompton Lakes area of ​​Passaic County was 75 percent contained, although no evacuation orders were issued.

Progress was also reported on fires in the Bethany Run area bordering Burlington and Camden counties in Evesham and Voorhees counties; a fire along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Bluffs in Bergen County; and the Pheasant Run wildfire in Gloucester County’s Glassboro wildlife preserve.

Prosecutors in Ocean County late Saturday afternoon announced arson and firearms charges in connection with a 350-acre (142-hectare) fire in Jackson Township that started Wednesday. They said magnesium particles from a shotgun shell at the edge of a shooting range created a spark. Firing such “incendiary or tracer munitions” is prohibited in the state, officials said. Authorities said Friday that most of the fire was under control.