As fire crews continue to battle the massive wildfire in New Jersey, residents who initially evacuated began to return home Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, April 23, at 7 p.m., the "Jones Road Wildfire" had burned 13,250 acres, threatened 12 structures and was 50% contained. Evacuations were lifted earlier in the day for roughly 5,000 residents in Lacey and Ocean townships.
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WATCH HEREWayne Mauro lives off Wells Mills Road and was one of the people who evacuated Tuesday. Mauro is a member of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service and works mostly with the Department of Environmental Protection, he said.
He happened to have a dental procedure scheduled for Tuesday.
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SIGN UP “Exhausting, pretty tired,” Mauro said Wednesday, as he returned home. “The guys did a really good job. They really looked out for us.”
Photos and video he took Tuesday before evacuating show a massive blaze outside of his home, roughly 30 to 40 yards away from his front door.
“They backfire into a head fire, so they can use up the fuel so it stops it from advancing,” he explained. “It’s really amazing, the extent of this fire. We came through this last night down 532 getting back here, and it was like Apocalypse Now. It was a very eerie, surreal sight. Just fire everywhere, smoke everywhere.”
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The fire began shortly before 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22, at the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area in Barnegat Township, Ocean County. It spread to Lacey Township where it destroyed a business. It
also spread to Ocean Township, sending massive plumes of white smoke into the air.
Trevor Raynor, Division Forest Fire Warden for NJFFS, said this fire was an example of why the public needs to follow evacuation orders. The fire grew rapidly Tuesday and spread, he said.
“Often times we get asked, what’s the fire like? What are you dealing with on the fire lines? Here’s what went on yesterday,” Raynor said. “These fires, with the dryness and the wind, they throw spot fires and embers. Little tiny fire burns up to a mile out that main fire so even if we’re successful in stopping the fire on the barrier, this control line…there’s still embers that rain down, shower down.”
Multiple resources were deployed to fight the fire, including local, county and state fire services. No injuries have been reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
