This image taken from video shows shows flames burning as a forest ranger works at the Jennings Creek wildfire, in Warwick, N.Y., Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024.

Firefighters in New York said Sunday that a successful voluntary evacuation overnight helped them protect about 165 homes from a wildfire near the New Jersey border.

However, New York City's fire department has taken the first-of-its-kind step of creating a brush fire task force to respond to what officials are calling a historic increase in brush fires occurring throughout the five boroughs, the FDNY commissioner announced. From Nov. 1 to Nov. 14, the FDNY responded to 271 brush fires across the city, marking the highest two-week period in New York's history.

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