New Jersey forest fire burns through 1,000 acres
WOODLAND TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A forest fire burned roughly 1,000 acres in New Jersey's Pine Barrens but is now about 50 percent contained, authorities say. Wildfires in other states across the country, however, remain stubborn and vast.
In New Jersey, no property has been damaged and no homes are in the fire's path, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Hajna said Tuesday.
The fire broke out on Monday in Woodland Township, Burlington County, and later spread in Ocean County.
Containment lines are expected to hold the fire at 1,000 acres.
Hajna says the containment effort included about a dozen wildfire trucks and four bulldozers. Local fire crews also assisted.
Officials say dry conditions and a breeze made controlling the fire challenging.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
In Utah, a wildfire burning west of Deer Creek Reservoir Monday led to the evacuations of some homes and a nearby campground.
It's unknown how the fire was ignited. It started at about 3 p.m. Monday and Mike Eriksson of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands said that the fire was about 125 acres as of 5:30 p.m.
In north-central Washington, a wildfire has torched about 320 square miles. That fire is about 37 percent contained.
A blaze in California - the state's biggest - also remains a challenge and is said to have expanded further over the weekend.
Cal Fire says the wildfire has charred 148 square miles with flames feeding on chaparral and timber stricken by drought. It began July 31 during a lightening strike.
Over the weekend, the fire reached an area about 1 and a-half miles away from Cedar Grove, a small development near the eastern end of the canyon.
The fire in Fresno County is currently the largest of six blazes burning in California. Officials said over the weekend it was about 31 percent contained.