N.J. wildfire 75% contained

WEST MILFORD. Forest Fire Service operations are expected to end Friday, Mayor Michele Dale says.

| 14 Nov 2024 | 06:31

The wildfire burning across the New Jersey-New York border was 75 percent contained in New Jersey, the state Forest Fire Service said late Thursday afternoon, Nov. 14.

The Jennings Creek Wildfire has burned more than 2,280 acres in the state.

No evacuations have been required and no structures are threatened.

West Milford Mayor Michele Dale said Forest Fire Service operations are expected to end Friday, Nov. 15.

“While New Jersey continues to collaborate and provide assistance with New York to achieve a similar status, New York still has several days of work ahead to reach that point,” she said Thursday afternoon.

Closures on the East Shore Road will continue until Sunday, Nov. 17. Beech Road was scheduled to reopen later Thursday.

Residents are likely to see increased smoke in coming days as New York conducts backburns to manage the fire, Dale said.

Park employee killed

The Jennings Creek Wildfire killed a New York state parks employee during the weekend.

A quarter-inch of rain fell overnight from Sunday, Nov. 10 into Monday, Nov. 11 in the forest area straddling the border between the two states, giving a slight respite to firefighters.

The fire is one of several burning on the East Coast amid a lack of much rainfall since September.

An employee of the New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Department who was assisting firefighting crews died Saturday, Nov. 9 when he was hit by a falling tree.

Officials said the overnight rainfall was far less than what was needed to extinguish numerous brush fires that have broken out in New Jersey since the middle of last week.

At least four other wildfires in central to northern New Jersey were mostly or completely contained as of Monday.

To find and fight the fires, crews are navigating a maze of country roads, lakes and steep hills amid dense forests. Trees there have dropped most of their leaves onto parched ground, masking a potential danger.

“Beneath the surface leaf litter that falls off the trees, that stuff is bone dry,” Bryan Gallagher, a forest ranger with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, said at a media briefing. “So right now you get a little bit of rain that puts that surface fire out. But if it’s in the duff, it’s going to stay there. It’s going to smolder like a cigar until it gets dry enough and then that fire can pop up again.”

A firefighting helicopter capable of dropping 350 gallons at a time was being used to help combat the Jennings Creek Wildfire.

The National Guard deployed two Black Hawk helicopters for water drops, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said.

New York State Police said they were investigating the death of Dariel Vasquez, the 18-year-old state parks employee killed Saturday while fighting the fire.

Health advisories were issued during the weekend for parts of New York, including New York City, and northeastern New Jersey because of unhealthy air quality produced by smoke from the fires, but conditions improved after the rainfall and changes in wind direction.

Dana Van Allen, of Ringwood said she awoke early Saturday to what smelled like a burning campfire. She realized the fires were close enough to leave ashes on her deck.

“It was very stifling. We were very scared,” she recalled Monday.