Wildfire burning in Jackson Township, Ocean County
JACKSON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) -- Crews in Jackson Township, Ocean County, are battling a wildfire, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.
The fire, named the Glory Fire, is burning in the area of East Commodore Blvd and Cedar Swamp Road in Jackson Township. Crews responded to the fire just before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The NJFFS said Wednesday the fire has burned 70 acres and is 70% contained.
Fifteen structures are currently threatened because of the blaze, down from 30 on Tuesday.
Exit 21 on I-195, East Commodore Boulevard, Cedar Swamp Road and Jackson Mills Road have reopened.
There are no mandatory evacuations at this time.
Greg McLaughlin, the chief state fire warden of the NJFFS, said the main concern crews have is the 15 homes being threatened by the fire. He added crews have put in control lines with bulldozers and began working with backfiring operations to contain the fire.
"Combined with low snowfall this past year and low rainfall, the fire is burning a little more aggressively than it would this time of year," Trevor Raynor, the assistant division warden with the NJFFS, said. "June is typically our green season, but things are dry right now having that lack of rainfall."
The NJFFS is asking people to avoid the area. Campfires are restricted in the area at this time, Raynor said.
McLaughlin said they expect the fire to grow to about 100 acres before it's fully contained.
It's unclear how the fire started. There have been no injuries reported.
The fire comes after multiple wildfires in New Jersey recently and a Red Flag Warning in effect for the Delaware Valley.
Last week, a wildfire in Medford burned 210 acres before being fully contained and crews are still putting out hot spots. At the Bass River State Forest, a massive wildfire burned 5,000 acres.
Since June 2022, McLaughlin said the NJFFS has responded to 1,400 fires in the Garden State that have burned a combined 26,000 acres. He said they typically see 1,000 wildfires per year, but they're seeing a 30% increase so far in 2023.
"We were ready, we've been dealing with this, it's been going on for a while now. We've been busy, and it's just another fire we've dealt with and we were ready. It's been a busy few weeks and it continues," Deale Carey, of the NJFFS, said.
Fire officials will be providing another update on the fire at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
