New Jersey Wildfire

New Jersey Wildfire Hits 2,500 Acres, Evacuations Begin

At least 75 structures are threatened and that number may grow as Ocean County’s Jimmy’s Waterhole Wildfire burns out of control.

As of Wednesday morning, the fire is at 2,500 acres as firefighters work tirelessly to suppress it. Unfortunately, the blaze is only at 10% containment according to the latest data from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

NJ.com reports the fire broke out late into Tuesday around Route 539, Route 70 and Horicon Avenue in Manchester. A few dozen evacuations on federal, state and private property would follow. Today, more citizens have been ordered to evacuate as the fire spreads rapidly.

Thankfully, no injuries have been reported. But the weather remains dangerously-suited to wildfires and spread. It is currently breezy, warm, and dry in the state, and the forecast predicts more of the same throughout Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, the weather won’t be providing much help today. More warm, dry, and breezy conditions are expected. Next chance for rain is the weekend,” the National Weather Service of Mount Holly, New Jersey, tweets out of the wildfire.

There’s an “elevated risk for fire spread” in all 21 counties of New Jersey as a result.

In response, firefighters and officials are instating controlled burns, or backfiring. This is when a fire is intentionally set in the path of a wildfire to consume it’s future fuel in a safer manner.

There is no word on the origin of the fire. Currently, Route 539 and Route 70 are open to the public. Horicon Avenue is off-limits, however, along with Beckerville East Road and Beckerville West Road, Manchester police tell NJ.com.

New Jersey Experiencing Multiple Wildfires

With such dry, windy conditions, New Jersey is experiencing multiple fires around the state this week.

“Earlier, a roughly 10-acre wildfire burned through a wooded area near Alameda Drive in Brick,” fire officials tell the outlet. “Another 5-acre wildfire burned brush in Howell.”

These are very minor events in comparison to the Jimmy’s Waterhole fire. And while that 2,500 acre fire’s origins remain unclear, officials cite the Howell fire starting as a direct result of a homeowner burning wood in an outdoor fire pit. Those flames them spread with a large gust of wind. A nearby dry, wooded area caught fire as a result.

Hudson County firefighters would also meet a brush fire in Jersey City on Tuesday. That one “jumped both the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and the Newark Bay-Hudson County Turnpike Extension Tuesday afternoon,” NJ.com cites.

Nearby Pennsylvania Under Red Flag Fire Warning

In addition, New Jersey’s bordering eastern Pennsylvania is under a red flag warning for wildfires through 8 PM tonight. Areas under warning include:

  • Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Delaware
  • Monroe, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia counties

The National Weather Service is expecting “critical fire weather conditions” for these areas. This poses an “increased risk for rapid wildfire growth and spread.”

Further footage (above) shows the “monster” proportions New Jersey’s largest current wildfire, the Jimmy’s Waterhole fire, is reaching.

Another East Coast fire is currently burning in Big Cypress National Preserve down in Florida.

Outsider sends our best to those in the fire’s path and to officials risking their lives to combat it.