GERMAN – Firefighters from several area fire districts in both Chenango and Cortland Counties responded to a massive brush fire in the Town of German Thursday afternoon.

The fire was spotted and called in by a New York Environmental Conservation Officer at approximately 2:30 p.m. Chenango County dispatch offices quickly dispatched mutual aid request to the scene in the Five Streams State Forest situated between Pucker Street and Skillman-Hoffman Road in the Town of German.

While the blaze was far from a water source, diligent fire crews and dispatchers worked in concert to manage and control the fire that consumed some 17 acres of state land.

Of the nearly 200 emergency personnel to respond, three were treated for minor injuries and heat exhaustion.