Recently, a wildfire broke out in the coastal area of southern New Jersey in the United States, with the burned area exceeding 13,000 acres. Thick smoke billowed towards the coastline, causing power outages in some areas, affecting over 1,300 buildings, and resulting in the emergency evacuation of thousands of people. Officials stated that this might be the largest fire the state has experienced in the past 20 years.
According to a notification from the New Jersey State Forest Fire Service, the wildfire named “Jones Road” erupted on Tuesday (April 22) in Ocean County, approximately 85 miles away from Manhattan, but it was not discovered until that evening. The fire has already consumed at least 13,250 acres of forest, posing a threat to more than 1,300 buildings.
Fire officials reported that as of Wednesday evening, 50% of the fire had been contained. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The blaze forced over 5,000 residents to evacuate at one point and led to the temporary closure of segments along New Jersey Parkway for 17 miles, Route 9, Route 532, Lake Avenue, Jones Road, Bryant Road, and Route 72.
Shawn LaTourette, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, stated that firefighters anticipate the fire will continue to spread, potentially becoming the largest wildfire in New Jersey in two decades. Fortunately, there have been no reports of casualties so far.
New Jersey Acting Governor Tahesha Way announced on Wednesday that Ocean County has been declared a state of emergency to allocate more resources to combat the “Jones Road” wildfire.
The fire department reported that about 100 firefighters were engaged in extinguishing the fire both on the ground and from the air on Wednesday, with the fire expected to be fully under control by the end of the weekend.
Furthermore, the department noted that last year during the same period, New Jersey had only experienced 310 wildfires, while this year there have already been 662 wildfires, burning a total of 16,572 acres of land.
The U.S. Drought Monitor map indicates that Ocean County is currently experiencing “abnormally dry to moderate drought” conditions, with the situation deteriorating over the past week. Nearly 80% of New Jersey is facing some level of drought.