Southern New Jersey wildfire grows to nearly 4,000 acres after sparking ‘200-foot flames’
A fast-moving wildfire in southern New Jersey has grown to nearly 4,000 acres less than 24 hours after it started as record-breaking heat ravages the Northeast.
That single fire burned more than half of the average number of acres burned in New Jersey for an entire year, according to statistics from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
The Jimmy’s Waterhole Fire was 50% contained and had burned 3,859 acres as of Wednesday morning, officials said. At 10 p.m., it was just 500 acres. Tuesday, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
About 170 buildings in the Manchester Township area were evacuated Tuesday night, but all residents have since been able to return home, Manchester Police Chief Robert Dolan said during a news conference Wednesday.
No structures were damaged and no injuries were reported, officials said, but firefighters were facing “extreme fire behavior,” said John Cecil, deputy commissioner of state parks, forests and historic sites for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Conservation.
“We saw a wall of fire, 200-foot flames, raining embers. I don’t want to be dramatic, but this was a tough situation that these guys and gals managed to hold in place and protect lives and property. And we can’t thank them enough for that,” Cecil said.
The fire burned primarily on federal, state and private land in Manchester Township, but also jumped into nearby Lakehurst.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, said New Jersey Forest Fire Marshal Trevor Raynor.
Record heat will worsen fire conditions
Summer-like temperatures are expected to last through Friday, with more than 25 potential record highs set to fall.
“We’ve been under a lot of pressure the last few days. This is the drying up of the ‘fuel’ (dry stands, dead leaves, etc.). We should remain under high pressure for the next day,” Cameron Wunderlin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Mount Holly, told CNN. “The relative humidity drops very low with this flow around the high and all the ingredients are there for fire weather concerns.”
The week’s record-breaking heat will only worsen fire conditions as temperatures climb into the mid-80s in New Jersey and other parts of the Northeast along the I-95 corridor.
Temperatures will also remain high at night, which will create challenging conditions for firefighters. Overnight temperatures will only drop into the low 60s or upper 50s, not allowing for much recovery overnight.
“Relative humidity is calculated from the temperature and the amount of moisture,” Wunderlin said. “So if you have record high and low humidity, the relative humidity will drop below the 30% threshold we’re looking for extreme fire behavior.”
Places like New York City, New Brunswick and even Philadelphia could break records on Friday, with temperatures expected to top out in the mid-80s.
Springfield, Mass., could surpass its previous record of 77 by nearly 10 degrees if it reaches a forecast high of 86 on Friday.
Wind will remain a factor as sustained winds are expected to remain around 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.
April is considered the peak of fire season for New Jersey. The state has seen other large fires in recent years, including one last year that burned more than 13,000 acres. The 2022 fire was roughly 50 miles from where the current fire is burning.
