A fire broke out on Saturday night at Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai, on Long Island, when large bonfires combined with the strong winds sweeping across the shore. According to fire officials, the blaze started on an attached deck before the wind carried burning embers down the beach and into the surrounding brush.
The flames spread quickly across the sand, and the aftermath left the dune grass along the shore charred and blackened. Footage from the scene showed just how fast the fire moved once the embers began to scatter in the gusty conditions that night.
Witnesses who watched it unfold described a frightening scene. The flames grew so fast it was unbelievable, one bystander said, adding that they just kept growing and growing. Several people who were there recalled how the whole area lit up orange as the fire took hold.
As the fire advanced, people in the immediate area were told to evacuate. One witness remembered stepping out to the driveway and looking up to see the sky glowing orange above the beach, describing the moment as simply terrifying as the flames raced along the dunes.
Heavy rain that came down on Saturday night is credited with helping to bring the flames under control. It was coming down so hard that it helped a lot, one witness said, as the downpour doused the embers that had spread across the beach and kept the fire from traveling further.
No one was hurt in the fire, according to authorities. Fire officials have not yet said what started the flames, and the question of exactly how the bonfires came to spread to the deck and then the dune grass remains under investigation.