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 66.8 sq km. That compares with about 310 wildfires burning 1.27 sq km 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 28.3 sq km 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 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 17-mile 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.
