New Jersey officials ordered thousands of residents to evacuate on Tuesday after a fire erupted and spread out of control in Ocean County.
The Jones Road Forest Fire had consumed 3,200 acres and was just 5% contained by 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday evening. The fire forced 3,000 nearby residents to evacuate. Roughly 23,000 JCP&L customers have lost power, according to NJ.com.
The fire shut down multiple roads and has threatened over 1,300 structures. Local and state resources including “Forest Fire Service fire engines, bulldozers and ground crews” and “[n]umerous local fire, rescue, county and state cooperators” have been dispatched to fight the fire, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
“[An] average of 1,500 wildfires damage or destroy 7,000 acres of New Jersey’s forests each year,” the New Jersey Forest Fire Service website says. Over half of New Jersey under a “high” fire risk, the site says.
Videos of the inferno have surfaced online, showing a massive blaze burning through New Jersey forest.
An eyewitness video posted to Facebook shows flames towering over and surrounding nearby buildings as emergency workers and others move. NJ.com identified the setting as an “industrial complex in Lacey Township.”
Swaths of New Jersey are under moderate and severe drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Ocean County is largely under dry conditions that swing toward a moderate drought at the southern end of the county.
Winds have gusted at up to 25 miles-per-hour, contributing to the spread of the blaze, according to NJ.com.
