New Jersey Wildfire Is Tied to Arson as Firefighters Make Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Firefighters in New Jersey made progress against a blaze that threatened to become the state’s largest in 18 years, while officials charged a man with arson in connection with the incident. 

The wildfire in Ocean County, about 90 miles south of New York City, spread across 21 square miles (54 square kilometers) — nearly the size of Manhattan — by Thursday morning. The blaze was 50% contained along its perimeter. 

Investigators determined that the fire was caused by an improperly extinguished bonfire, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said Thursday in a statement.

Though one commercial structure has been destroyed, officials said Wednesday morning that fire crews had prevented any homes from burning. There have also been no reports of injuries or deaths. New York City officials warned that residents there may see or smell smoke as a result of the blaze, and that the air-quality index on Thursday could reach levels unhealthy for sensitive groups.

New Jersey typically experiences increased fire risk in the spring, with the danger peaking in late April. But the state has also seen below-average rain and snowfall stretching back months, leaving the landscape especially dry and primed to burn.

“It’s pretty extreme conditions now,” state forest fire warden Trevor Raynor said at a press conference Wednesday. “It doesn’t get any worse than this.”

Officials said they expected the blaze to continue to grow until rains move in late Friday and early Saturday morning, affecting air quality near the fire line. Jersey Central Power & Light restored service to most customers by Thursday morning after inspecting its equipment for damage, according to an update posted on the company’s website.

By the time the fire is extinguished, officials said it could be the largest to strike the state since 2007, when a blaze sparked by a military exercise consumed 17,000 acres.

Satellite imagery earlier this week indicated the fire was inching closer to the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, which was closed in 2018 and is now being decommissioned. Embers reached the facility Tuesday but were extinguished, according to plant officials, who said concrete casks storing radioactive waste on site were designed to withstand fires.

Despite recent storms, New Jersey has been drier than normal since last August, according to statistics compiled by the state climatologist’s office. In Ocean County, annual rain and snowfall totals are running 12 inches (30 centimeters) below average. 

As of last week, almost 80% of the state was abnormally dry or experiencing drought conditions. A risk monitor developed by New Jersey’s forest fire service shows high fire danger has spread statewide.

Bill Donnelly, chief of the fire service, said 662 wildfires had been reported across New Jersey so far this year, consuming more than 16,500 acres. That’s significantly more than the state saw during the same period of 2024, when crews recorded 310 fires that burned about 315 acres in all.

While these blazes have been small compared with those that regularly devastate the western US, they are heightening risks in one of the most densely populated parts of the country. 

Wildfire risk tends to peak in New Jersey in the spring and fall months, National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick O’Hara said in an interview Wednesday.

“Since it was so dry last year and conditions are starting to be dry again, fire danger across southern New Jersey is even a little higher than it would be,” O’Hara said, adding that the risk will diminish as plants and leaves “green up” across the state.

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