Wildfire burning at Glassboro Wildlife Management Area in Gloucester County, New Jersey
Amid drought conditions, another wildfire has popped up in South Jersey. Crews are battling a wildfire at the Glassboro Wildlife Management Area in Gloucester County that broke out on Thursday, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.
The NJFFS said the wildfire is burning in the area of Carpenter Avenue and has been named the Pheasant Run Wildfire. Crews began a backfiring operation in order to contain the fire.
You might see smoke heading your way if you're south of this fire. Our NEXT Weather team says smoke is visible on radar, showing plumes from this fire and another in Berks County, Pennsylvania being pulled to the south.
If you're wondering why it's smoky in your area, you might be downwind from one of these major fires.
As of Friday evening, the fire is 133 acres and 75% contained. No structures are threatened, and there are no major road closures.
The wildfire in Glassboro was the third NJFFS crews are battling this week in our region. A wildfire in Jackson Township, Ocean County, has grown to 350 acres. It's 90% contained.
Another wildfire impacting Burlington and Camden counties had grown to 360 acres and is 90% contained as of Friday evening, according to the NJFFS.
Officials said the Garden State has responded to a record number of fires over the past month.
"We have been running fires every day for over a month," Greg McLaughlin, administrator for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Forests & Natural Lands, said. "We've had 400 fires statewide in the month of October alone; that's a record number of fires that this agency has responded to in over 100-year history that we've had."
Luca Mosco, who lives a short distance from where the wildfire is burning, spent part of the afternoon blowing leaves away from his house as a precaution.
"I don't think it's necessarily going to stop anything, what I'm doing, but at least it's going to protect my home," Mosco said. "I think it's really important to just do what you can to try to prevent any fire from spreading."
Joy LaSpata and Steven McBride said the smoke has been their biggest concern.
"I have asthma, and I can tell that it's doing something, like my voice is changing," LaSpata said. "But I'm not feeling anything terrible right now."
The couple also tried to take precautions to protect their home.
"I just did the leaves the other day," McBride said. "Already, you can see the yard's covered again."
Mosco hopes the Garden State will get some relief from the abnormally dry weather fueling wildfires across the state.
"How long has it been since it rained?" Mosco asked. "I don't even know. It's just, it's crazy. It's abnormally dry. We just really need Mother Nature to pull through and give us some rain, hopefully this weekend."
The entire region is suffering from a severe drought, and Burlington and Atlantic counties are suffering an extreme drought. It's the worst drought in the area since 2002.
