After Snowy Winter Delays Prevention, New Jersey Faces Rising Wildfire Risk
Key takeaways
- These conditions, the service said in a statement, “support the rapid spread of any fires that ignite, which could quickly become difficult to control.”
- In Belleville Township, five miles north of Newark along the Passaic River, similar conditions contributed to a 14-alarm fire on May 3 that burned for days.
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Republish Flames rise over Belleville Township, N.J, as firefighters battle a 14-alarm blaze on May 3. Credit: Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images Related Potential Repeal of Roadless Rule Could Permanently Damage Midwest National Forests As Wildfires Increase, NJ Considers the Impact on Public Health New Jersey Cut Back on Prescribed Burns in the Pine Barrens—and Faces a Wildfire That Charred Thousands of Acres Share This Article Republish Most Popular As El Niño Approaches, Scientists Predict Fierce Heatwaves, Wildfires and Floods After a Century Powering Its Growth With Dams, Seattle Settles With Tribes That Lost Their River Plugging Away at the Millions of Derelict Oil and Gas Wells in the US The New Jersey Forest Fire Service this month announced an elevated risk for fire spread across Delaware and parts of New Jersey. Conditions aligned—humidity dropped, temperatures rose into the 80s and southwest winds were gusting up to 30 miles per hour, elevating fire risk across the region.
These conditions, the service said in a statement, “support the rapid spread of any fires that ignite, which could quickly become difficult to control.”
In Belleville Township, five miles north of Newark along the Passaic River, similar conditions contributed to a 14-alarm fire on May 3 that burned for days. The relative humidity was extremely low at 19 percent that night. Strong winds of 20 miles per hour pushed an industrial fire from a warehouse where it started to multiple buildings, prompting school closures and evacuations, leaving thick, hazardous smoke in its wake.