3,859-Acre Wildfire Still Burning In Ocean County, But 'Catastrophic' Damage Averted

Updated, 9:15 p.m. April 12

MANCHESTER, NJ — A wildfire that has burned 3,859 acres of forest in the Pine Barrens is now 75 percent contained, and authorities believe chances of it spreading farther are very low.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service said in an update Wednesday night that firefighters are continuing to monitor the fire that prompted 170 homes to be evacuated late Tuesday night in Manchester and Lakehurst, with crews on the ground and in the air.

There are no longer any structures threatened by the fire, authorities said, and all of the roads in the area have reopened as of 9 p.m.

No homes have been damaged and there have been no injuries from the fire that started shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday, said Gregory McLaughlin, chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

Hotspots and spot fires are being addressed, he said. Helicopters including Blackhawks from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst were dropping water all afternoon Wednesday to douse problems.

At its peak, McLaughlin said, the fire was producing 200-foot-high flames and throwing off ember showers as it moved northeast from the area of Route 539 toward Lakehurst. (See video of the fire below.)

"This had high potential to be extremely catastrophic," McLaughlin said, because of the proximity to so many homes including nearby age-restricted communities in Manchester, where embers were being carried by the wind.

Residents as far east as the North Dover portion of Toms River reported finding embers in their yards, but there were no reports of fires that started from those distant embers. Strong winds kicked up Wednesday afternoon but presented minor issues.

"I was up in a helicopter when that happened," McLaughlin said of the 20 mph winds, which caused a spot fire to jump Route 70. "It was quickly addressed."

John Earlin, assistant firewarden who was the incident commander, said the main issue being watched is pockets of woods that have not burned, to make sure they don't become a problem.

There were 170 homes evacuated late Tuesday night, 70 in Manchester and 100 in Lakehurst, Manchester Police Chief Robert Dolan said. About 60 people went to take shelter at Manchester Township High School, but they were able to go home between 3 and 4 a.m. as the danger homes eased, he said.

McLaughlin said firefighters were able to use backfires to turn back the main body of the fire. The practice, where a fire is set to burn underbrush and leaves to slow a fire's progress, was particularly effective in protecting homes in Lakehurst along Division Street. Those backfires diverted the head fire toward an old cranberry bog, and the combination of the moisture and the lack of fuel stopped it.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. McLaughlin said it started on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst west of Route 539 and quickly spread, jumping a fire break around power lines and into the woods east of the road.

Route 70 and Route 539, which had been shut down in the early stages of the fire, reopened to traffic about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. But Beckerville Road and Horicon Avenue remain closed to traffic, McLaughlin said.

Assistant District Firewarden Trevor Raynor said initially firefighters hoped to contain the fire at Route 539, but it quickly jumped the road and spread. Attempts to use sand roads in the forest to contain the spread failed, Raynor said, but firefighters were able to use the paved roads to aid in containment.

The fire had burned about 500 acres by 9:45 p.m., but McLaughlin said it ramped up quickly late Tuesday night because of the existing conditions.

"There are parts of the terrain in that area that have lighter levels of fuel," McLaughlin said, and some water sources that slowed the fire down. But between 9:45 p.m. and the evacuation orders at 11 p.m., the fire hit "heavy fuel," he said, where there was vast amounts of very dry pine needles, leaves and underbrush.

In addition, the heat from the fire added to its rapid spread. The fire was moving about 4-1/2 miles an hour, which is speedy for a wildfire, McLaughlin said.

"It essentially preheats the fuel nearby, which makes it catch fire more quickly," McLaughlin said.

That rapid spread forced authorities to act quickly to order the evacuations, Dolan said.

"We did a reverse 911 and then went house to house," Dolan said, with Manchester police getting assistance from Toms River police and the Ocean County Sheriff's Office to make sure everyone got out safely.

Manchester Councilman Joseph Hankins said there was a horse farm with 30 to 40 horses that evacuated as well, though it was not in the mandatory evacuation zone.

"Most people were already packing up when we knocked on their doors," Dolan said. Some had been asleep and were startled by the evacuation.

The Manchester fire, which spread onto part of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, was one of at least 15 fires across New Jersey on Tuesday, and fire officials said they have increased staffing monitoring by air, from fire towers and in trucks making patrols in fire risk areas, to try to quickly address any fires that arise.

Low humidity and warm weather increase the fire, and McLaughlin said the forest fire service will be on high weather alert the rest of the week for potential fires.

McLaughlin said the fire was named for the initial area where firefighters were trying to contain the blaze, an area known as Jimmy's Watering Hole.

John Cecil, assistant commissioner of the NJDEP's State Parks, Forests and Historic Sites division, along with McLaughlin and Dolan, praised the work of the firefighters and the cooperation of so many agencies in bringing the fire under control.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service worked with the Joint Base fire company and volunteer fire companies from all over Ocean County to address the various parts of the fire, from controlling the head fire to protecting homes.

Hankins, who is a longtime firefighter in Manchester, said the coordination among all the fire companies and organizations was seamless because they have practiced and prepared for situations like this multiple times.