Buildings Threatened, Trails Closed As South Jersey Wildfire Grows

SOUTH JERSEY — An "active wildfire" in Wharton State Forest that broke out Tuesday was threatening seven structures as of about 2:50 p.m., NJ state officials said.

Batsto Village, Buttonwood Campground and all the associated hiking trails from Batsto Village are closed as a result of the wildfire, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. Bulltown Road is also closed, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.

The wildfire has thus far burned about 40 acres and is about 15 percent contained, according to NJ state officials.

Firefighters are using a backfiring technique — setting fires "along the inner edge of a fireline to consume the fuel in the path of a wildfire or change the direction of force of the fire's convection column," according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group — to try and contain the fire, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.

This wildfire is in roughly the same area as a wildfire earlier this year by an illegal campfire that damaged 13,000-plus acres, according to NJ State Officials.

Patch will have more information as it becomes available.

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