POMPTON LAKES, NJ – A A New York City parks employee has died battling one of several wildfires in New Jersey and New York amid dry conditions that prompted air quality warnings in both states, authorities said Sunday.

Eastern Dutchess County Fire and Rescue said the New York State Forest Service reported the worker died when a tree fell on him Saturday afternoon while battling a major brush fire along the border of New York-New Jersey, officials said.

“Rip bro, your turn over job well done,” the post read.

New York State Police said they are investigating the death in the middle of the Sterling Forest fire, located in Greenwood Lake, and have identified the victim as Dariel Vasquez, an 18-year-old Parks and Recreation counselor employed by Parks, Recreation and State Historic from New York. Department of Conservation.

The wildfire service of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection reported that the extensive fire had spread to more than 3 square miles (about 8 square kilometers) near the border of West Milford and Orange County, New York, in Passaic County. Dubbed the Jennings Creek Fire, it threatened two homes and eight buildings in the Long Pond Ironworks Historic District.

Health advisories have been issued for parts of New York and northeastern New Jersey due to unhealthy air quality from smoke from the wildfires. People were urged to limit vigorous outdoor physical activity if possible; those particularly susceptible included the very young and very old, and people with conditions such as asthma and heart disease.

Meanwhile, New Jersey officials reported 75 percent containment of a 175-acre (70-hectare) fire in the Pompton Lakes area of ​​Passaic County that was threatening 55 homes, although no evacuations had been ordered.

Progress was also reported on the Bethany Run fire on the border of Burlington and Camden counties in Evesham and Voorhees townships; a fire along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs in Bergen County; and the Pheasant Run Wildfire in the Glassboro Wildlife Conservation Area in Gloucester County.

Ocean County prosecutors announced late Saturday afternoon arson and firearms charges in connection with a 350-acre (142-hectare) wildfire in Jackson Township that started Wednesday. They said it was ignited by magnesium shrapnel from a rifle on the side of a shooting range. Officials said firing that type of “incendiary or tracer ammunition” is prohibited in the state. Most of the fire was under control, officials said Friday.