New Jersey Wildfire Threatens 1,300 Homes, Burns Through Thousands of Acres

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00:00A lot of aircraft, a lot of moving parts.

00:14The Jones Road wildfire started yesterday morning.

00:18It was detected by Cedar Bridge Fire Tower.

00:20The fire observer in Cedar Bridge Fire Tower, when he climbed the tower that morning,

00:24he saw the wildfire and reported it at approximately 9.45 yesterday morning.

00:30We dispatched resources right off the bat.

00:33They arrived on location.

00:35The wildfire was about 10 to 20 acres upon arrival.

00:39And we had resources there quickly.

00:42We dispatched aircraft.

00:44And even with a big show of force to contain this fire, it still grew to be a large wildfire.

00:54We're still at it today.

00:59You can see the smoke behind us.

01:01We aren't out of the woods yet.

01:03We feel good about this, but we're still working toward it.

01:07Going forward, what's our plan?

01:10So our plan is to get people back home, get roads reopened, and knock that smoke down.

01:16So we're going to do that through mop-up and patrol.

01:18We've got approximately 100 firefighters on the fire line today, and they're out there working

01:24really hard, squirting out water along the parkway so there's no smoke on that morning

01:30commute or evening commute.

01:32They're putting out stumps and logs around homes so that there's no smoke, and they can

01:37open their windows, and their homes are safe, and they feel safe.

01:40We understand the evacuations were very disruptive.

01:44We'd like to thank the public for being understanding and patient with us.

01:48So thank you to the public.

01:51We're going to continue to knock back the smoke, reopen the roads, reduce the traffic.

01:57We're continuing damage assessments as we speak.

02:00The utility companies are getting back in there.

02:02We're working with them to re-energize power lines.

02:05All the evacuations have been lifted.

02:12This time last year, we were at 310 wildfires for a total of 315 acres burned.

02:26This year, for this same period, we're at 662 wildfires with 16,572 acres burned.

02:40Just an update on the fire we had down in Vineland, Cumberland County, over the weekend.

02:46That fire stands at 1,327 acres and is still 80% contained.

02:54There were 1,300 homes that were threatened during the course of fighting there.

03:24This fire and our forest fire service was successful thanks to the partnerships that we have

03:34with the mayor of Lacey Township and the county and the Jersey State OEM and State Police

03:41and our first responders all working together to protect our neighbors throughout this area.

03:48And again, there's a lot of work to do right now.

03:51The wildfire stands at about 11,500 acres and 30% containment.

04:00We fully expect that that number will grow, that we will see ultimately, when all is said and done,

04:09a greater number of acreage affected, and this could very well end up being the largest wildfire in New Jersey in 20 years.

04:20As many folks here know, we've been under continuing dry conditions, particularly in the southern part of the state,

04:30and those dry conditions have very much influenced this fire.

04:36The cause of the fire itself remains under investigation.

04:42Thankfully, no residential structures were lost.

04:48We did lose one commercial structure.

04:50Some outbuildings were also affected, and several vehicles as well.

04:57And around 5,000 residents were under either mandatory or voluntary evacuations,

05:05and those evacuation orders have been lifted, again, thanks to the great work of all of the first responders involved.

05:12One loss of life as about an hour ago.

05:18So students.

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