New Jersey wildfire swells to 12,500 acres, could become biggest in 2 decades

Frank Kummer and Robert Moran, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 23, 2025

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A forest wildfire in Ocean County, New Jersey, just miles from the Shore had ballooned to at least 12,500 acres as of Wednesday and was still spreading, according to state officials.

The fire could become New Jersey’s largest in 20 years, Shawn LaTourette, the commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said at a news conference.

“There’s a lot of work to do,” LaTourette said. “We’ve truly averted a major disaster.”

A 17,000-acre wildfire burned 19 years ago in the same general area.

Drought conditions that began in the late summer and fall have “influenced” the fire, the cause of which is still under investigation, LaTourette said. Though recent rains have helped, Ocean County remains abnormally dry during what is now peak wildfire season in New Jersey.

LaTourette said he’s “hopeful” that the fire can remain away from people, “but I’m not going to tell you there’s no chance because wildfires are risky.”

The fire was 40% contained as of Wednesday afternoon.

Conditions will remain favorable for fires to spread over the next few days, officials said, as humidity remains low, temperatures are up, and breezes are steady.

No injuries have been reported. But about 5,000 people in Lacey and Ocean Townships had to be evacuated. They have since been allowed to return home.

At least one commercial building had been destroyed, as well as some vehicles.

“This is the worst fire in the history of our township,” Lacey Township Mayor Peter Curatolo said.

Curatolo described the sky Tuesday night over his township — filled with smoke and the glow of approaching flames — as apocalyptic.

“I know our residents were terrified,” Curatolo said in a phone interview.

The township opened a shelter at the Charles A. Smith Community Center for residents of the Pheasant Run senior community, but the center was suffering from a power outage and only had bottled water for the approximately 35 evacuees, Curatolo said.

Thankfully, he said, Ocean County helped to transfer the residents to a better-equipped shelter, and Curatolo and other officials assisted the evacuees onto school buses for their trip to Manchester Township High School.

The only major damage that occurred in Lacey was a warehouse owned by a family business that burned down, he said.

Curatolo added that he was grateful for the assistance provided by the mayors of other communities in Ocean County.

Although the fire danger was waning, he said he was still concerned about the air quality, and was eagerly anticipating the rain that was forecast for this weekend.

“I was never so hopeful for a rain event in my life,” he said.

The fire began over 10 to 20 acres in Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area before spreading rapidly.

As of Wednesday, the blazes had drifted away from homes and toward the wilderness of the Pinelands, partly as a result of winds and the backburning firefighters used to control and direct fire.

The heavily used Garden State Parkway and Route 9 have reopened after having been closed Tuesday because of what’s been dubbed the Jones Road Fire.

About 1,320 buildings had been threatened by the blaze, but that dropped to 20 by Wednesday.

Although 25,000 customers of Jersey Central Power & Light lost power, a company spokesperson said power would begin to be restored Wednesday.

Acting Gov. Tahesha Way declared a state of emergency in response to the fire. The declaration authorizes officials to implement emergency plans, coordinate recovery efforts, reroute traffic, and muster resources. Way is New Jersey’s lieutenant governor and serves as acting governor when Gov. Phil Murphy is unavailable.

The Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area, managed by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, spans a heavily wooded 32,253 acres in the Pinelands and is bordered by housing developments.

The fire broke out near Jones Road, about six miles west of Forked River on the New Jersey coast.

The wildlife management area is the largest tract of land preserved by the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. Most of it is dominated by pine and oak trees on higher ground, and pines and Atlantic white cedar bogs in the lowlands.

It contains the headwaters of Cedar Creek as well as numerous wildlife, such as the barred owl, a threatened species.

Because of the dry conditions, it’s been a busy season for wildfires.

Bill Donnelly, chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, said that there have been 662 wildfires that have burned 16,572 acres so far this year. That compares to 310 wildfires and 315 acres burned during the same time last year.