A HUGE wildfire has erupted near the wealthy Hamptons enclave of New York, blacking out the sky with huge plumes of smoke.

Flames ripped along Sunrise Highway in the neighbourhood of Long Island on Saturday afternoon, according to the Eastport Fire Department.

Thick black smoke has swallowed the skies as the blazes continue to rage.

Sunrise Highway is closed in both directions, per Suffolk County police.

Detective Sergeant Gina Laferrera urged: “Please stay clear of the areas”, in an email to Newsday.

She added: “Additional road closures may occur due to the ever-changing situation.”

More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.

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A MAJOR seaside tourist attraction is set to reopen after a Dragon’s Den judge saved the iconic building.

The Brighton i360, which suddenly closed in December 2024, was bought over by Nightcap Ltd in February.

AFP or licensors

The Brighton i360 looks set to reopen[/caption]

British Airways i360

The attraction was bought over by Nightcap Ltd in February.[/caption]

The company’s CEO and Dragon’s Den judge Sarah Willingham welcomed in punters to the tower’s pod and gift shop earlier today.

Customers flocking back to the attraction will still need to fork out £18.50 for a pre-booked ticket.

However, the i360 has introduced £5 tickets for adults and £2.50 for children who live in BN1, BN2, BN3 and BN41 postcodes.

“This is very much a phased opening,” Mrs Willingham said.

At the end of last year the i360, which provides visitors with incredible panoramic views of Brighton and Hove, filed for insolvency.

Interpath Advisory, the viewpoint’s administrators, needed to act in the best interests of creditors.

As the building’s largest creditor, the council had to agree to release the debt owed by Brighton i360.

The Brighton beach attraction, dubbed “i-sore” by locals, first opened in August 2016 with the help of £30 million’s worth of funding from the council.

City bosses claimed it would become an iconic global landmark attracting millions of tourists to the resort.

But its first 12 months were plagued by mechanical and technical faults which caused the viewing pod to become stuck leaving visitors stranded high in the air.

Falling visitor numbers, bad weather and up to £20 ticket prices left the attraction struggling to pay its debt and then the Covid pandemic struck.

Operators had promised to pay back the loan and pledged the attraction would bring “millions” of tourists into the city.

Deputy leader Jacob Taylor said: “The new government has provided a significant uplift in local government funding, but the cumulative underfunding of local government over the past 10 years is taking its toll.

“As a council that listens to its residents, we would like as many people as possible, from as many communities as possible, to take part in this budget exercise and share their views.”

The plea was met with outrage online, with one user saying: “I am absolutely stunned.

“I remember thousands of people objecting to the i360 when plans were first unveiled, especially the cost of it.

“When I heard the councillor asking for ideas to save £30million it was like being hit in the face with a wet fish.

“So in answer to the request for ideas I would say: ‘Listen to your taxpayers, councillor.'”

FANS delivered their verdicts on Cian Ducrot singing the national anthems before Ireland’s defeat to France.

The Cork singer – whose mum is French – performed all three of Amhran na bhFiann, Ireland’s Call, and La Marseillaise at the Aviva Stadium.

And judging by the conclusions of fans on social media, the Grammy Award winner would be welcome to return for another go.

One said: “@Cian_ducrot you were absolutely amazing singing the French and Irish national anthem in the @AVIVAStadium”

A second said: “Omg seeing Cain Ducrot sing the anthems today was so cool #IRLFRA @SixNationsRugby never realised he’s half French!! Slayed La Marseillaise”

A third posted: “We’re back on national anthem watch and that was a solid 10/10 on all fronts by Cian Ducrot there. World class.”

A fourth commented: “Great to see Cian Ducrot doing the national anthem. Up Cork!”

A fifth joked: “Cian Ducrot just sang in three different languages, while I’m here still using autocorrect for my spelling

“That was class”

A sixth said: “So proud of @Cian_ducrot & how far he has come!!”

The 27-year-old treated the Aviva Stadium to another performance at half-time on what was a bad day for Simon Easterby‘s men.

They lost 42-27 to Fabien Galthie’s men to end their chances of a Grand Slam and severely hurt their prospects of a third Six Nations in a row.

It led to one beleaguered fan quipping: “At least Cian Ducrot was good”

Ducrot’s performance was a rare bright spark on what was a devastating day for the Ireland team and fans in Dublin.

Having trailed just 8-6 at half-time, they shipped 34 points is a dramatic capitulation against Fabien Galthie’s side in the second.

That was despite Les Bleus losing the talismanic Antoine Dupont to injury.

The Toulouse scrum-half suffered what looked a serious knee injury after 29 minutes when it appeared Andrew Porter fell on him by accident as he and Tadhg Beirne arrived to clear-out.

A fuming Galthie said: “For Antoine, there is suspicion of a fairly serious knee injury. I won’t go into details due to medical confidentiality, but Antoine is suffering. 

“We have summoned [three Ireland] players to appear before the (Six Nations disciplinary) committee, Tadhg Beirne and Andrew Porter.”

He added: “Our players did not return to the pitch. We would like to understand why. On this issue, we are angry. We want to protect our players, there are means, rules.”

CRUFTS fans were left gasping in horror after one of the dogs’ owners took a big tumble on television.

The handler was darting around the International Agility course with his Working Kelpie when he lost his footing.

Channel 4

Crufts handler Henk Simon fell over on television[/caption]

Channel 4

The Dutchman rolled onto his back in front of a jump[/caption]

The chap, called Henk Simon, then fell to the floor and rolled onto his back as his dog Tucker cleared a jump.

If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, the Crufts commentators laughed and then made a savage joke.

Hank’s unfortunate fall was also replayed in slow motion. Twice.

One of the pundits said to his colleague – and millions of Channel 4 viewers who were watching at home: “Now, if that had have been me who had fallen over, I’d have still been there.

“A proper tumble, a proper tumble.”

Laughing, he then quipped: “That will be a video he won’t be keeping probably.

“But we will be reminding him of it for many, many years!”

Unfortunately for Dutch trainer Henk, he and Tucker did not place in the Crufts Large Dog International invitation – Agility round.

The winning rosette went to French handler Kim Barreau and her Border Collie called Pepper.

Crufts 2025 kicked off on Thursday, marking the 135th year of world-famous dog show.

More than 20,000 pets and their owners are expected at the international competition, which runs until Sunday March 9.

One of those was Freddie Osborne, six, who has become Crufts’ youngest ever dog-handler.

He and his eight-year-old fox terrier Penny took home two winning rosettes in different categories at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.

Following his triumph, Freddie said: “I love dog shows and I love Penny because she’s not just my dog, she’s my best friend.”

Meanwhile, security at the venue has been tightened after last year’s show was interrupted when protesters stormed onto the showground – with guards forced to pull a man and a woman out of the arena.

The coverage on Channel 4 is once again led by Clare Balding, who is joined by co-presenter Radzi Chinyanganya.

There has also been two new faces added to the presenting team – Paralympic Champion Ellie Simmonds and former professional rugby player Ed Jackson.

Channel 4

Henk was red faced but uninjured[/caption]

CHANNEL 4

The Crufts commentators laughed and joked they would ‘remind him of it for years’[/caption]

Brush fires on Long Island’s East End have shut down a main route to the Hamptons and created a smoke cloud visible for miles. Multiple fire departments are responding to the fires which are near Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton and in the Pine Barrens, in a “large-scale coordinated countywide effort,” Southampton emergency management...

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