New Jersey wildfire could become state's largest in nearly 20 years

A fast-growing wildfire was burning in New Jersey's Pinelands near its Atlantic Ocean beach towns on Wednesday and threatened to become the largest in the state in nearly 20 years, officials said on Wednesday.

The Jones Road Wildfire had spread to 54 sq km on Wednesday night and was 50% contained, the New Jersey forest fire service said.

It was no longer threatening populated areas but a “soaking rainfall” is needed to stop the fire, officials said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

The blaze could become the largest in New Jersey in about 20 years, said Shawn LaTourette, the state's commissioner of environmental protection. A fire in May 2007 in the same area consumed 6,880ha.

Embers from the fire sparked several small blazes near a decommissioned Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Waretown, according to state officials. The plant, owned by Holtec International, shut down in 2018.

Lieutenant governor Tahesha Way declared a state of emergency beginning at 7am on Wednesday. She was filling in for governor Phil Murphy, who was on an overseas trip.

“At this time, we have no loss of life and no homes have been harmed,” Way said on X on Wednesday morning.

So far in 2025, New Jersey has experienced nearly twice as many wildfires as in the same period last year, with 662 wildfires burning over 6,677ha. That compares with about 310 wildfires burning 127ha in the first four months of 2024, Bill Donnelly, the chief of the forest fire service, said at the briefing.

On average, 1,500 wildfires damage or destroy 2,833ha of the state's forests each year, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said on its website.

The blaze started on Tuesday in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area near Lacey, Ocean and Barnegat townships in Ocean County, about halfway between Asbury Park and Atlantic City. The area is about 24km inland from the Atlantic Ocean shoreline.

About 1,300 homes were endangered, and between 3,000 and 5,000 people were under mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders, which were lifted on Wednesday morning. In addition, a 27km stretch of the Garden State Parkway, a major north-south highway, was closed on Tuesday but reopened on Wednesday morning

Hundreds of firefighters have been working on the blaze for almost 24 hours straight, Donnelly said.

To fully stop the fire, crews need a “soaking rainfall” which might come this weekend, said John Cecil with the state's environmental protection department.

Reuters