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A wildfire known as the Whitehouse Fire that began in the Peekamoose Valley area of the Catskills, was fully contained late Monday after burning apx. 630 acres.

Initially starting on Friday, the fire spread quickly and threatened the Sundown community before being controlled by fire crews, forest rangers, and helicopters from the State Police and Department of Environmental Protection.

Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger posted that 139 personnel from 18 fire departments were deployed to contain the Whitehouse Fire. In the end, by chance, they were assisted by desperately-needed regional rainfall.

The fire did not burn on Peekamoose Mountain proper.

Whitehouse Fire Location

The fire began on Whitehouse Road on the western slope of Bangle Hill. Multiple reports online say it burned on Samson Mountain but, from what I have seen, those reports are incorrect. The fire appears to have burned on Bangle Hill only .

This is very near the campground on Peekamoose Road . The Bangle Hill trailhead is directly opposite, on the south side of the road.

Bangle Hill trail leads to the summit of Bangle Hill in 1.1 miles with about 1,100 feet of elevation gain—making this trail quite steep. Hikers of The Long Path will have hiked this trail section.

Whitehouse Fire Contained

11/14/24 UPDATE from County Executive Jen Metzger: “The Whitehouse Fire is 100% contained as of nightfall yesterday! The NYS DEC Forest Rangers will continue to monitor the area of the Whitehouse Fire over the next few weeks.”

11/13/24 UPDATE from County Executive Jen Metzger: “As of nightfall yesterday, the Whitehouse Fire is 98% contained at 630 acres, and NYS DEC Rangers will continue to work today toward 100% containment.”

Whitehouse Fire Losses

A firefighter from the Plattekill Fire Department was injured. While some outbuildings were destroyed, no homes were confirmed damaged.

At a simultaneous wild fire farther south, a Parks and Recreation Aid employee — identified online as 18-year-old Dariel Vasquez — was killed while battling a forest fire in Sterling Forest in Greenwood Lake.

Much of the Hudson Valley faces a high risk of wildfires. Drought conditions persist, prompting over a dozen municipalities in Ulster County to issue burn bans.

Climate change has come to The Catskills.

Full report at Times Union .

Aftermath (April 2025)

I finally got to hike the trail section from Route 47 to Bangle Hill. I can confirm this is the steepest section of trail I’ve ever hiked; my crew and I all commented on it. We also were struck by how well the trail had stopped the wildfire in its tracks.

You can see all the duff is burned away on the right side of the trail, leaving the dirt exposed. Whereas, on the left, the ground leaves are still perfectly intact. So when you see fire fighters out west digging their fire breaks, that really works!

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