It may take years for Prospect Park wildlife to return after area torched by NYC brush fire: experts

The two-acre wooded stretch of Prospect Park has been eerily quiet in the week since it was torched by a shocking bush-fire.

Scores of squirrels, birds, raccoons, skunks and other critters that call the Brooklyn oasis home were forced to flee the burned sector — and it could take years for them to return, according to wildlife experts.

“Wildfires cause wildlife to move; they’ll avoid active flames and, if the damage is severe, will seek new habitats for food and shelter,” Sunny Corrao, the public engagement coordinator for the city Department of Parks and Recreation’s Wildlife Unit told The Post.

None of the animals inhabiting the area near the ravine and adjoining meadow known as Nethermead meadow at the center of the park were reported to have been injured in the Nov. 8 inferno, which law enforcement officials suspect was sparked by a homeless encampment.

The majority of the wildlife creatures who escaped the blaze unscathed may have dispersed throughout Prospect Park’s remaining 524 lush acres — or may have made an exodus from the green space entirely in search of new homes, Corrao said.

The underbrush of Prospect Park’s affected area was completely destroyed by the blaze. Gregory P. Mango

It may take years, however, before the displaced critters return to the once lush ravine spot that is now blackened and torched.

Animals would return when they’re able to seek food and shelter in the two-acre stretch again.

“If there’s still trees standing, you’re still going to get your flying insects and your birds,” Corrao explained, citing general wildlife behavior.

The trees sustained fire damage, but were mostly left standing, meaning birds might be the first to return to the torched sector. Paul Martinka

But if a lot of the understory — or underlying layer of vegetation above the forest floor — was burned away, “you’re not going to have animals that use that as cover. So you’re not going to have your small mammals in those areas,” Corrao said.

Christian Zimmerman, the vice president of Capital and Landscape Management for the Prospect Park Alliance, said it may take up to three years of planting — followed by long-term care — before forestry workers can bring the urban oasis back to its pre-fire state.

Landscapers are still on the ground assessing the full extent of the damage, but workers said that the ground cover of the woodland floor has been completely incinerated.

“The ground cover — the herbaceous level — that has been removed. That burned out,” Zimmerman said.

Law enforcement suspects the sudden fire was sparked by a homeless encampment and propelled by the city’s ongoing drought. via REUTERS

“There’s still small trees, small shrubs and there’s larger material, large stands of oak that are still there. They have some fire damage … They can survive that. It just depends on how extensive it is.”

The first step of the recovery process would be to re-stabilize the hillside by fitting logs and walls into the sloping area — which would be in danger of soil erosion without such retention measures.

Small mammals like squirrels might not return to the burned area for years because the ground cover was incinerated. Paul Martinka

The team then hopes to sow a new generation of herbaceous species by the spring, a hearty list that includes plants such as White Wood Asters and Pennsylvania Sedges, as well as various types of ferns.

Despite what is expected to be a lengthy undertaking, the Prospect Park Alliance remains optimistic that it can foster a path back to restoration.

“It could have been so much worse. It’s not that it’s not bad, but it’s a 150-acre woodland and two acres were impacted by this,” Zimmerman said.

“We love the park, and you instantly go into: ‘How do we fix this? How do you take care of that?’” he said.

“You move forward … It’s been here a long time and tragedy happens. Let’s make it better. Let’s let’s, you know, bring back the area.”