Ocean County Airport Gets Tanker For Fighting Forest Fires

BERKELEY, N.J. — The Ocean County Airport will again serve as the temporary home for a single engine air tanker that can deliver up to 800 gallons of water to precision targets during forest fires, the county announced Thursday.

The NJ Forest Fire Service will base the plane there from mid-April to mid-May. The plane is scheduled to leave Ocean County around May 10, officials said. The Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders will approve a resolution authorizing use of the airport.

The tanker's relocation follows a recent 11,000-acre wildfire from Penn State forest that made Ocean County residents nervous. Officials reported no injuries or property damage.

Read more: New Details Released On 11,000-Acre NJ Fire

“Many of the County’s inland communities are threatened by the hazard of forest fires,” Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari, who serves as a liaison to the airport, said in a statement. “Especially during high winds and dry periods, it is critical to control and extinguish developing fires as soon as possible. Having the NJFFS stationed at the Ocean County Airport each year is invaluable to the safety of countless Ocean County homes and businesses.”

During the 2018 forest fire season, the Air Tractor 802F "Fire Boss" tanker plane responded to 10 fires and made 38 drops delivering 12,800 gallons of water, officials said.

tThe peak wildfire season in New Jersey typically begins in middle to late March and runs through late spring, when the weather tends to be dry, windy and warmer, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

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