Grants Awarded To Barnegat-Manahawkin Neighborhoods To Fight Wildfires

BARNEGAT-MANAHAWKIN, NJ — Several communities in Barnegat and Manahawkin received state funds to help fight wildfires, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced in a news release.

According to the DEP, $90,000 has been awarded to 22 communities across the state to support wildfire risk-reduction projects.

Communities receiving funds are located within New Jersey’s high-risk wildland-urban interface, areas where forest lands and human development intertwine, and have an approved Firewise Action Plan through the Forest Fire Service’s Firewise Communities program.

“The Firewise Communities Program supports concrete actions to help save lives and raise awareness for both vigilance and action to reduce wildfire risk,” said Environmental Protection Acting Commissioner Ed Potosnak. “The partnerships supported by this initiative are vital for ensuring the protection of lives and property in New Jersey’s most wildfire-prone areas.”

The following Barnegat-Manahawkin communities received grants.

Barnegat: Brighton at Barnegat Firewise Association, $3,500; Four Seasons at Mirage Homeowners Association, Heritage Bay Homeowners Association, Heritage Point Homeowners Association, Horizons at Barnegat Homeowners Association, and Pheasant Run Barnegat, $4,200 each; Pinewood Estates Firewise, $2,000

Manahawkin: Atlantic Hills Homeowners Association and Paramount Escapes Ocean Breeze, Manahawkin, $4,200 each

Other Southern Ocean towns include:

Little Egg Harbor: Four Seasons at Harbor Bay Homeowners Association and Four Seasons at Sea Oaks Homeowners Association, $4,200 each

Tuckerton: Cranberry Creek Homeowners Association, Inc., $4,200

Waretown: Greenbriar Oceanaire Community Association, Inc., $4,200

Funded projects may include reducing wildfire risk through the maintenance of firebreaks to keep them clear of vegetation, along with strategic forest-thinning activities to reduce low and midstory trees and shrubs known as ladder fuels. Those ladder fuels can allow fire to spread rapidly from the forest floor into the tree canopy, making fires more difficult to control and extinguish.

Other potential projects include community education and outreach, as well as home-hardening initiatives. Home hardening involves modifying building materials, design features and landscaping to reduce the likelihood that a home will ignite during a wildfire.

Mid-March to Mid-May is typically peak wildfire season in New Jersey.