Wildfire in New Jersey Pine Barrens expected to grow before it's contained, officials say

CHATSWORTH, N.J. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire engulfing part of New Jersey's Pine Barrens has not resulted in any injuries, officials said, though it's expected to continue to grow before forecast rain later this week.

The fire in southern New Jersey's Lacey and Ocean townships grew to roughly 18 square miles (47 square kilometers) and could continue to burn for days, officials said during an update on Wednesday. No one has been injured so far in the blaze, and 5,000 residents were evacuated but have been permitted to return home.

“This is still a very active fire,” said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette. “As we continue to get this under full control the expectation is that the number of acres will grow and will grow in a place that is unpopulated.”

The Garden State Parkway, one of New Jersey's busiest highways, also reopened Wednesday morning after officials closed a roughly 7-mile (12-kilometer) stretch in the southern part of the state.

Video released by the state agency overseeing the fire service showed billowing white and black clouds of smoke, intense flames engulfing pines and firefighters dousing a charred structure.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, authorities said.

Forest fires are a common occurrence in the Pine Barrens, a 1.1 million-acre (445,000-hectare) state and federally protected reserve about the size of the Grand Canyon lying halfway between Philadelphia to the west and the Atlantic coast to the east. The region, with its quick-draining sandy soil, is amid peak forest fire season. The trees are still developing leaves, humidity remains low and winds can kick up, drying out the forest floor.

The area had been under a severe drought until recently, when early spring rains helped dampen the region.

The Jersey Central Power and Light Company cut power to about 25,000 customers at the request of the Forest Fire Service and the wildfire’s command post Tuesday evening, including thousands in Barnegat Township. A spokesman for the company said Wednesday that some customers could have power restored later in the day.

“This is for the safety of crews battling the fire,” the company wrote on X.

Debi Schaffer was caught in gridlocked traffic after evacuating with her two dogs while her husband agreed to stay with their 22 chickens, The Press of Atlantic City reported.

“I wanted to take them in the car with me; can you imagine 22 chickens in a car?” she told the newspaper.

Around her Waretown house it was “like a war zone,” she said, describing smoke, sirens and the buzz of helicopters.

The site of the fire is near an alpaca farm. The farm said in a Facebook post that the property wasn’t threatened and all of the animals were safe.

The blaze is the second major forest fire in the region in less than a week.

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Associated Press writer Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed to this report.