NJ wildfires: Crews make significant progress battling South Jersey wildfire
Wildfire burns out of control in South Jersey
Another wildfire burns in South Jersey, creating a more intense and busy fire season for the Garden State.
VINELAND, N.J. - Firefighters are battling a wildfire in Cumberland County. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service alerted the public to avoid the area as they worked to contain the fire.
What we know:
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service first alerted to the fire Friday afternoon a little after 2:15.
The fire began burning in the Peaslee Wildlife Management Area in Vineland. It is being called Danny’s Wildfire.
Roads which were closed yesterday due to the fire hazard are back open, though the public should continue to exercise caution.
They also said 1200 acres were burning, but have made significant progress as they report 75 percent containment.
Officials also said that no structures were threatened.
The fire was detected by crews a little after 12:15 Friday afternoon.
What they're saying:
"This year has been crazy. We're probably two or three times the fires we had this time last year," Chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, Bill Donnelly stated. "Here in New Jersey, things have been crazy and they’ve been getting crazier and crazier."
Along with the fire crews, assessing the spread of flames from the air was state senator Mike Testa, whose home is nearby.
"With Easter Sunday coming, we wanna make sure everybody's able to enjoy their holiday. Thank God this fire right now is not threatening any major infrastructure, homes, schools, hospitals. I want to give a shout-out to our first responders. They are the best in the business," Testa explained.
The backstory:
Though there has been recent rain, New Jersey is still in a drought situation, due to the lack of precipitation last fall. The recent rain helps, but is not quite enough. Driving along the roadway, it’s easy to see why fires spark so easily. Dry, windy and low humidity all contribute to fires growing so quickly, along with dry, brown leaves carpeting the ground from last fall are a recipe for the rapid spread of flames.
Check out the Drought Monitor website for more info on NJ's condition.
Chief Donnelly added, "New Jersey just seems to be on fire year round, as of late and for one reason or another we haven't had the rain. The weather has been drier than normal. We haven't had the precipitation – it certainly is a factor and just having a lot of big fires."
What we don't know:
No information has been released regarding the origin of the fire. A large firefighter presence was at the location.