New Jersey Wildfire explodes to 13,250 hectares, could be greatest in almost 20 years

A running fire in New Jersey exploded to 13,250 hectares after lit on Tuesday in Ocean County and threatened more than 1,000 structures, set a large highway and had thousands of people flee out of the flames.

On Wednesday afternoon, officials said firefighters had won the upper hand at the fire. The Jones Road Waldfire was contained by New Jersey Forest Fire Service from 7 p.m. at 7 p.m. ET 50%.

Shawn Latourette, New Jersey’s Commissioner of Environmental Protection, said that firefighters expect the fire to grow and that the biggest running fire in New Jersey has been turning out for 20 years.

“Thanks to the incredible, heroic work of the good men and women of our people from New Jersey, people, houses and life were saved, and we really turned away a big disaster,” said Latour.

Latour said that no injuries were reported.

The crews will work at night to continue the fire, head Bill Donnelly from New Jersey Forest Fire Service said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Donnelly said the fire continued to threaten 18 structures along the County Route 532, which remained closed for traffic on Wednesday afternoon.

So far, the fire has destroyed a commercial structure and damaged several huts and other structures, said John Cecil, deputy commissioner for state parks, forests and historical sites for the State Department of Environmental Protection.

Officials said they expect the fire to be completely included this weekend. About 100 firefighters fought the fire out of the ground and out of the air on Wednesday, officials said.

The origin and cause of the fire remained examined on Wednesday afternoon.

The fire, which is located south of the Tom River along the Garden State Parkway, was first registered in the Greenwood Forest Management area of ​​Ocean County at 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, which an official described as a “rather wild and untamed space”, which was covered with pine trees.

Trevor Raynor, a Division Forest Fire Warten for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, said the fire was first discovered by the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower near Barnegat Township, New Jersey.

“We sent resources directly from the bat. When they arrived at the location, the fire was about 10 to 20 acres,” said Raynor. “We quickly had resources there, we emitted planes, and even with a large violence exhibition it became a big forest fire.”

The fire exploded to 8,500 acres overnight and jumped at a point on the Garden State Parkway and brought one of the most busiest streets in New Jersey to a standstill. At some point the fire threatened more than 1,000 houses, said officials. But firefighters were able to call up the fire and fought with crews on the floor and aircraft, which made water drops, said officials.

The New Jersey Lt. GOV. Tahesha Way, who acts as a deputy governor, while governor Phil Murphy is not in the country, declared a state of emergency in Ocean County on Wednesday morning and freed resources to fight the fire.

Officials said the fire threatened structures in the townships Ocean and Lacey.

The firefighters mainly had drought in New Jersey, especially in the southern part of the state, in the first four months of the year, said Donnelly.

He found that at that time there was 310 forest fires in the whole of the state last year, which sank 315 acres. So far, Donnelly gave 662 forest fires nationwide this year, which burned 16,572 acres.

“New Jersey has some of the most volatile wildland materials across the country,” Donnelly told reporters of the challenges that firefighters fought against the fire. “You know, everyone is used to seeing California … Well, these pine bars here are exactly the same type of fuel model. They are exactly as if it were distributed over the ground.”

Officials emphasized that the threat by the region until the region gives more precipitation.

The fire, which is rapidly spread, stimulated the evacuations of some residents on Tuesday. By Wednesday, firefighters increased the evacuation order and warned the residents of remaining alert.

Ocean County’s resident, Michael Ferrara, said that on Tuesday he was horrified to see how flames and smoke closed in his neighborhood and prompted him to observe the obligatory evacuation orders.

“During the day it was a kind of frightening,” Ferrara told ABC News that he made his decision to go or stay on Tuesday evening.

“Smoke and everything stood in my back yard. Everything was covered with black ashes,” said Kelly Mendoza, another evacuation.

He said the first thing he came down to protect himself and his family.

“But what do you take with – birth certificates, passports?” Said Ferrara. “It’s just a very scary feeling.”

Latour said that more than a thousand structures were threatened at one point and that more than 5,000 inhabitants observed or were voluntarily evacuated or were evacuated voluntarily.

A forced power failure due to the fires has also left at least 25,000 customers in the dark. The prediction on Wednesday is expected to be airy in the course of the morning, with the winds up to 20 miles per hour away from the north, but the winds should calm down this afternoon because the high pressure begins with the next chance of rain on Friday evening.

The Jones Road Fire has been the biggest running fire in New Jersey since June 2022 when the Mullica River fire burned 13,500 tomorrow over the Wharton State Forest in Burlington County. If the fire exceeds this, it would be the largest in almost 18 years. In May 2007, the Warren Grove Fire burned 17,000 tomorrow in the Pinelands of Southern New Jersey.

Victoria Arancio from ABC News contributed to this report.