Firefighters battled a large brush fire near several Syracuse homes and the Rosamond Gifford Zoo on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025. Around 6:57 p.m. Onondaga County 911 dispatchers received over 30 calls regarding a fire in the area of Grand Avenue and Velasko Road, according to Syracuse Fire Department Captain John P. Suits. (Timia Cobb photo)
Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse firefighters Wednesday night fought back a wildfire with 30-foot flames and blowing burning embers in a scene that looked more like California than Central New York.
Around 6:57 p.m., fire crews got the call that there was a brush fire near Holden Street and Grand Avenue, near Rosamond Gifford Zoo and not far from some homes.
The Onondaga County 911 Center received dozens of calls about the fire as black smoke could be seen for miles. Firefighters rushing to the growing fire saw the large column of black smoke and requested additional units.
Flames reached up to 30 feet in the air and the burned area extends to within about 150 feet of the closest home, said District Chief Matthew Craner, a spokesperson for the Syracuse Fire Department.
Juanita Webster, a resident on De Palma Avenue, said she heard sirens and took a look outside her front window Wednesday night. She was shocked by what she saw.
“I saw fire, the smoke, the blackness,” Webster said. “I looked outside the upstairs window and I could see the whole blaze and I said, ‘Oh my gosh, it looks like California.’”
Webster said the sky was completely black with smoke. She said she could see the high flames and became worried the fire would spread and that the homes on De Palma Avenue would have to evacuate.
In addition to the homes on De Palma Ave, firefighters were concerned about the potential of flames or embers spreading further into areas like the hill leading up to Burnet Park, Craner said.
An officer came door to door in the neighborhood and made residents aware of the fire, just in case people were asked to evacuate, Cory Morton said. He was alerted to the fire by a neighbor who called 911 when they saw the flames driving home, he said.
Morton said the fire seemed to spread to three different areas, with one large patch near Velasko Road.
The flames shot high and the smoke was heavy, but Morton said firefighters were able to contain it and keep it from spreading quickly.
As firefighters arrived, they reported a large wildfire, rapidly spreading in a retention basin. Inside the basin were trees, shrubbery, and weeds that are up to 10 feet tall, firefighters said.
Fire crews had to cut padlocks on the gated service roads to get close to the basin and the fire.
Other firefighters fought the fire on streets that surrounded the basin. Firefighters took position on Grand Avenue, Burnet Park and the zoo just on the other side of the road, firefighters said.
Dry conditions on Wednesday caused the dry brush and shrubbery to burn easily.
Winds – gusting to 30 mph – fueled the fire, blowing embers hundreds of feet which caught a tree on fire on the zoo side of Grand Avenue, firefighters said. That fire was quickly extinguished.
Handlines and hoses capable of flowing thousands of gallons per minute were used to contain the spread of the fire, focusing on protecting houses in Skunk City.
Dozens of firefighters worked to put out the fire.
The Onondaga County Air1 helicopter and a drone from Syracuse police helped firefighters check on the spread of the fire.
Firefighters said 911 callers reported fires in the western area of Syracuse and in the County. One caller, mistaking the source of the smoke, reported that the Bank of America on Onondaga Boulevard was on fire, prompting a response from multiple county fire departments, they said.
It took firefighters two hours to fully extinguished the fire. The burned area was about four to five acres.
There were no injuries to firefighters or residents.
The fire’s cause and origin is under investigation, firefighters said.
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Editor’s note: On Friday the fire department said the total 6.8 acres.
Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com
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