Wildfire in Evesham Township, New Jersey, grows to 300 acres; 50% contained
Roads are closed around the Black Run Preserve in New Jersey's Evesham Township as a wildfire burns Thursday.
The fire, which has been named the Bethany Run wildfire, is about 300 acres in size and was 50% contained as of Thursday night. The fire is also affecting Voorhees Township in Camden County.
As of 6:30 p.m., officials said, all evacuation orders related to the fire had been lifted, but road closures remain in place.
Kettle Run Road is closed between Braddock Mill Road and Hopewell Road, Sycamore Avenue is closed and access to the Sturbridge Lakes development is closed. The NJFFS said the next update will be at 10 a.m. on Friday.
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service said earlier that 104 structures are threatened by the blaze — mostly homes in the Sturbridge Estates neighborhood. A dozen families were evacuated but have been allowed to return to their homes. Fire engines, bulldozers and ground crews are on the scene, along with a helicopter that can drop up to 350 gallons of water. A helicopter is also overhead for observation.
Images from Chopper 3 showed smoke rising from the preserve – a wooded area that features several walking trails. Flames were visible on the ground.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. It happened on another day of "extreme" fire danger in the state, as the region weathers drought conditions following a record-breaking stretch without rain. Evesham Township Police said the investigation is in the area of Kettle Run Road and Sycamore Avenue.
Normally during the fall, leaves fall off the trees and onto somewhat moist or damp ground, NJFFS officials said in a news conference Thursday. But with the lack of precipitation since August, the dead leaves and needles are very susceptible to any source of ignition.
Officials urged caution with anything that might spark a fire, whether it's a cigarette butt, malfunctioning yard equipment that could produce sparks (like a lawnmower), or a faulty catalytic converter. Dumping ash from a campfire could also spark a blaze.
NJFFS was already responding to an active wildfire in Jackson Township, New Jersey, that has been named the Shotgun Wildfire.
"It's very busy," NJFFS Assistant Division Forest Fire Warden Trevor Raynor said. "Very dry, so you're going to see some more frequent wildfires."
Families take precautions
The Mitchell family lives a short distance from the wildfire, and they spent the day blowing leaves away from their house and spraying water on their garden beds next to their home.
"It's precautionary. Could it jump? Sure. A couple strong winds the wrong way, one little leaf, ash, leaf coming around, so it could," Bob Mitchell said. "Am I totally worried about it? No. But to do nothing would be the wrong thing to do."
As ash from the fire rained down on his neighborhood, Brett Weber spent the morning outside, clearing his gutters of dry leaves while keeping his children inside from the smoke.
"It's kind of like a Catch-22," Weber said. "My little boy loves helicopters and planes, but keeping him inside from the smoke, so he would love this out here."
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service said a spotter at one of its fire towers detected the fire, and it added that it's been a busy season for the state's firefighters.
"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."
