Communities in South Jersey excited for expected rainfall amid back-to-back wildfires
Before heavy downpours fall over South Jersey, crews in Burlington County were making the rounds vacuuming up leaves and also making sure to clear some storm drains to prevent any flooding.
At Lou Schiliro's home near Bancroft Lane in Hainesport, landscapers cleared leaves out of his yard with a wildfire still burning near several homes.
"So we're making sure we just got it cleared away if it gets a little windier today with the smoldering going on," Schiliro said.
Burlington County remains under an extreme drought. The dry conditions helped fuel what's been named the Big Rusty Wildfire near Schiliro's home. He and many of his neighbors hope this round of rain will help wash away their worries.
"Not just for this fire but the fact it hasn't rained a lot in two months, it's going to be well looked forward to," he said.
"Obviously if we would have had the rain nothing would have spread, it would have been no fuel for the fire to burn, so we are very thankful for the rain coming," said Edmund Altieri.
Big Rusty, which has burned about 40 acres, is now 100% contained.
Firefighters have been working around the clock for months. Since Sept. 1, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said it has battled 718 wildfires across the state. The measurable rain expected will help provide a moment of relief.
"We're in a pretty good deficit, so we need a good few inches of rain to take us out of this drought. Just a little bit of rain will help with the fire danger immediately, but the sandy soils in New Jersey, they dry out pretty quickly within a day or two, so we may get rain tomorrow and Friday but we may be back into fire weather a couple days after that," said Trevor Raynor, division fire warden with NJFFS.
The Forest Fire Service is still asking people to take precautions. Officials said they will reassess after the rainfall and update restrictions accordingly.