A quick response by Ulster County firefighters Friday afternoon kept a bad situation from getting worse. Christian Farrell has more on the challenges faced by firefighters in Gardiner.

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GARDINER, N.Y. -- A fully involved house fire greeted firefighters arriving on the scene Friday afternoon in Gardiner.

"We got the first crews in. They started working the rear of the building with two hand lines, knocked the fire back," said Gardiner Fire Chief Dave Bailin.

Luckily, firefighters say no one was inside the home on Route 44/55. However, the situation got really "hot" when firefighters found out these flames weren’t the only ones they're trying to put out.

"Debris just floated off into the woods and that's what started the whole fire," said Bailin.

A second fire ignited. It's a brush fire that firefighters extinguish quickly. Their quick work keeps a neighboring home safe.

"What we ended up doing was getting completely separate units in here to combat the brush fire," said Bailin.

According to firefighters, what makes these conditions so dangerous for brush fires is not just the fact that everything right now is so dry, but couple that with the fact that this past winter we had hardly any snow. And lately hardly any rain and low humidity. Mix in some wind and together it's a recipe that has area firefighters on high alert for wildfire activity.

"This year, if it stays like this the whole year, is going to be pretty bad," said Bailin.

On this day, though, the results are pretty good.