New Jersey wildfire damaged dozens of homes

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The blaze damaged dozens of homes and at least two mixed-use buildings were destroyed in the blaze, but “no homes were substantially damaged,” the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said in a Facebook post. Sunday night.

Residents who were evacuated from Brick Township on Sunday evening were allowed to return home from 7 p.m., the post said.

As the blaze swept through the Jackson and Brick Township area, about 80 miles east of Philadelphia, people who had yet to be evacuated on Sunday afternoon began to prepare to leave the area if the fire was spreading further, according to NJ.com.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Roni Anderson, who said he saw a helicopter hover over the blaze on Sunday afternoon, told NJ.com.

Anderson said her husband decided to drive home from work in case they had to evacuate but they weren’t even able to make it to the neighborhood because of the fire, according to NJ.com.

Instead, she told the publication, her husband parked his car in a store and walked home. The couple packed their important documents and photos in further care in preparation for their evacuation.

The cause of the fire is under investigation

The fire was first reported at around 1:30 p.m. in Lakewood Township. Fueled by high winds, the flames leapt over the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Forest Fire Service spokesman Maris Gabliks said at a press conference on Sunday.

Parts of the promenade remained closed early Monday morning as firefighters continued to fight the blaze, a Tweeter from the New Jersey Department of Transportation, said.

Although the source of the fire has been identified, the cause remains under investigation, according to an update released to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. The agency said the cause was not a prescribed burn.

Officials said in the update that two mixed-use buildings were destroyed and some ancillary structures such as hangars were affected in the residential area.

By Sunday evening, the blaze was at least 50 percent under control, Gabliks told reporters at the press conference.

Firefighters are expected to stay in the area fighting the blaze overnight to completely contain the blaze.

Large forest fires are rare in New Jersey

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning and wind advisory in the area on Sunday afternoon, warning of “critical fire weather” due to high winds up to 50 mph and low humidity relative.

The warning and wind advisory remain in effect until 5 p.m. and Monday midnight, respectively.

“Larger wildfires are rare or rare for New Jersey,” CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said. A combination of very low humidity and warm temperatures in the area could have contributed to the spread.

“We have extremely strong winds with low humidity which promotes the growth of the fire but also hinders the firefighters’ ability to contain and control the fire,” Gabliks said.

CNN’s Ganesh Setty, Joe Sutton, and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.



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