Posted on 03/14/2021 9:27:00 PM PDT by Trump.Deplorable
A brush fire in Lakewood the Brick border Sunday afternoon grew into a major forest fire by the evening, damaging 30 homes and buildings and forcing the closure of the Garden State Parkway.
The fire’s footprint was less than a quarter of a football field when first reported about 1 p.m. near Airport Road and Cedarbridge Avenue, officials said. It jumped across Airport Road and spread to nearby buildings before crossing the Parkway, Lakewood police Capt. Steve Allaire told The Lakewood Scoop.
A neighborhood of homes was temporarily evacuated, and the parkway was eventually closed in both directions from Exit 82 to Exit 91 as smoke enveloped the area and detoured traffic jammed local roads for hours. (The Parkway lanes were reopened to traffic at about 9:30 p.m.)
Aided by high winds and low humidity, the fire had spread to 162 acres by 6:30 p.m., according to the the state Department of Environmental Protection.
It remained an active fire Sunday night, and firefighters were expected to be at the scene and in the area all night and into Monday, fire officials said.
At about 8 p.m., Cristen Baracia and her daughter Madison were outside of their home, watching nervously as smoke filled the night sky.
“I feel like right now it’s far enough away, but when we saw the planes earlier, that was a little nerve wracking,” Cristen said. They live in a neighborhood off Shorrock Street, on the south side of Route 70, not far from where flames threatened a strip of stores.
If they had to evacuate, they would just flee, and not worry about their home. “Things can be replaced, people can’t,” Cristen said.
Brick police announced evacuations in the Brick Lake Park area and several stores and a hotel along Route 70 at about 4 p.m.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
SRSLY? 160 acres is national news? That’s JUST over 1/4 section, or 1/2 mile square.
Wildlife reference: for heavily populated squirrel territory, that’s the homeland of 20 furry tailed rats.
I regret the loss of the homes, but we lose that much in the first 15 minutes of a CA wildfire
They're concerned about the 30 residences, and probably a lot more nearby. The furry tailed rats, not so much.
It's unusual to have a fire of that size in NJ in this season. Something more is going on.
Its been dry and heavy winds
The area on fire is a populated area with a lot of homes, stores and industrial buildings. It isn’t out in the middle of nowhere where most of our fires happen.
Up until 8pm, the fire was “out of control”
It is a more densely populated area, with lots of homes, stores and industrial buildings. That is the main concern here.
The Pines need fires from time to time to keep them healthy. The residential areas are somewhat of a modern anomaly, and fire is unwelcome.
I have extended family in Tom's River area, I'm sure I'll hear more about it tomorrow. Prayers up for all those affected.
That’s half the Pine Barrens! Poor Jersey Devil.
This is literally fifteen minutes from where I live. The Garden State Parkway was closed and I couldn’t go to work.
Sorry some people lost their homes.
People who make jokes about Jersey aren’t aware but fully a quarter of the lower half of the state is acres and acres of trackless pine forests.
If you've ever seen that gold colored sticky liquid on a fresh cut 2x4 that's it. The stuff burns real easily.
Seems weird to read of a forest fire in NJ in the middle of March. Growing up on Long Island, NY just up the road I remember many months of March through the years as coldish and often damp. Not exactly ideal conditions for brush fires.
Part of a peaceful George Floyd vigil?
The owner of the Best Western was trying to put the Hilton Garden Inn out of business. Times are tough for hotels these days.
The story is that it burned in an area surrounded by densely built-up residential and commercial areas and that such fires are pretty rare around here. I live in the next town over and know the area well.
It is strange. I’m in Toms River, next door and we’ve had a fair amount of rain and snow over the winter, so it is strange that conditions were dry enough for a fire like this.
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