New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Saturday after several wind-driven brush fires broke out in New York’s Long Island, sending large smoke plumes into the air and shutting down a highway.

Fast-moving brush fires fanned by high winds burned through a large swath of land on New York's Long Island on Saturday, spewing thick gray smoke into the sky and prompting the evacuation of a military base and the closure of a major highway.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency on March 8 after a series of brush fires blazed through Long Island, N.Y., causing some residents to evacuate.