Hundreds of homes threatened by wildfires in New Jersey

AccuWeather

Ali Reid reports from Evesham Township, New Jersey, where hundreds of homes are being threatened by wildfires. The state has faced a challenging season with drought and high winds fueling the flames.

Transcript

00:00Our Ali Reid was live from Evesham Township to talk about the ongoing issues.

00:04Within an hour after she was on the air with us,

00:08she got word a wildfire started just minutes from where she was alive.

00:14She's back this morning with the latest on the situation there and unfortunately,

00:18as Ari's been talking about, Ali, things are going to worsen from that perspective today.

00:24Right, Bernie, Ari, and now New Jersey is in a red flag warning,

00:31so we're just adding an additional thing on top of this.

00:33But I was live over at that fire tower yesterday,

00:36telling you guys how important it is to have crews right now manning those locations,

00:41because they're able to spot these fires so quickly.

00:45And the fire tower that I was at yesterday was able to spot this fire today.

00:50Now, yesterday there was over 100 homes threatened.

00:53That still continues in today, but now they have at least the fire 50% contained.

00:59Take a listen.

01:00Just after nine Thursday morning, a fire observer detected a wildfire

01:04growing rapidly in Evesham Township, New Jersey, from a fire tower.

01:08It's the same fire tower I reported live from that very morning,

01:12sharing with our viewers the importance of crews manning those locations.

01:17A lot of these fires have been able to be picked up so quickly

01:21because of the crews in these fire towers.

01:23So they are doing a great job.

01:26The fire threatened homes within minutes.

01:28The fire was about 10 to 15 acres upon arrival, which is pretty large

01:33with that short amount of time that the fire was burning until we found it.

01:36Initially off the bat, structurally quick threatened,

01:39so the fire was very close to the houses.

01:41A number of homes were evacuated.

01:43Conditions have been unrelentingly dry, warm and windy,

01:48creating a perfect storm for this wildfire and others.

01:51Leaves have begun to fall, further feeding the flames.

01:55We've had 400 fires statewide in the month of October alone.

02:00That's a record number of fires that this agency has responded to

02:05in over 100 year history that we've had.

02:07The ongoing dry spell is prompting officials to urge residents

02:11to take extra precautions around their homes.

02:14Move away the combustibles that are next to your homes.

02:17So whether that be shrubbery that's dead or not watered or leaves or firewood,

02:24get the pine needles and the leaves out of your gutters,

02:26the pine needles and leaves off your decks.

02:28Move all those combustibles, mulches, leaves, pine needles,

02:32twigs, branches away from your home.

02:34And in battling the flames, the Forest Fire Service is using a range of strategies,

02:38including creating fire breaks and taking advantage of natural barriers.

02:42They're confident that through careful planning and immediate attacks,

02:46crews can keep these wildfires under control.

02:52Now, the location that I'm live at this morning is the location yesterday

02:56where fire crews from across the county came together to come up with a solid plan

03:01on how they were going to attack this fire.

03:03We know, as I've been talking about,

03:05this is not the only wildfire burning right now in New Jersey.

03:08Yesterday, three wildfires ended up popping up.

03:10So this has been an ongoing issue here.

03:12Again, Ari, Bernie, talking about the red flag warning,

03:15that is going to be a major problem today for flare-ups all across the state.

03:19So that's something that we're going to be keeping an eye on nonetheless here.

03:23And I know, Ali, I'm sure these fires are under investigation,

03:26but Ari and I were just talking off camera.

03:28How did they start?

03:29Is there any idea?

03:30Was it human?

03:31Was there some kind of other event that sparked them?

03:34Well, the percentage here in New Jersey for wildfires that are started by human

03:44is nine out of ten times.

03:46So the likeliness of it starting because of someone in this area is very likely.

03:52Unfortunately, we don't have the answer for that just yet.

03:54Bernie, you made the point yesterday.

03:56You have the leaves, the dry, just really adding into all of this.

04:00So who knows what it'll be just yet.

04:02They did have people here on scene yesterday working to figure out

04:05how this fire may have started.

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