Fire Spreads Through Gloucester Twp. Backyards

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — A fire destroyed a shed and spread into multiple Gloucester Township backyards, officials said Thursday.

A lawnmower and a shed caught fire in the backyard of a home around Orchard Avenue and High Street in the township's Broadmoor Section. It quickly spread across two adjacent backyards because of dry and windy conditions, police said.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which consumed the shed and destroyed some fencing diving the backyards. No one was hurt, and no homes were damaged.

The combination of drought, low humidity and gusty winds have left the region susceptible to the rapid spread of fires in recent days.

New Jersey's Stage 3 fire restrictions are in effect statewide. Charcoal fires are prohibited, and all fires in wooded areas must be in an elevated stove that uses only propane, gas, natural gas or electricity.

The state has received below-average rainfall in recent months and next to no precipitation in October. Gov. Phil Murphy issued a statewide drought watch Oct. 17, encouraging residents and businesses to conserve water.

Drought conditions in South Jersey ranged from moderate to severe as of Tuesday, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor's latest analysis.

Township police and three fire departments — Gloucester Twp. Squad 88, Chews Landing Fire Department and Magnolia Fire Company Sta. 29 — responded to the blaze.