A massive, rapidly expanding wildfire has surged to 8,500 acres in Ocean County as of Tuesday night and forced the evacuation of 3,000 residents along with multiple closures of major roads.
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service said the “Jones Road Forest Fire” is 10% contained as 10:46 p.m. and a total of 1,320 structures were being threatened by the flames.
“Multiple evacuation shelters have been established,” the Forest Fire Service said. “Southern Regional High School is open to evacuees with pets.”
About 25,000 homes and businesses were without power in the area as JCP&L cut power to protect the firefighters.
Power was expected remain out throughout the night, according to a statement from JCP&L.
The “forced outage” de-energized all lines in and out of the company’s Oyster Creek substation at the request of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service as they worked to contain the blaze, the power company said.
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The staggering blaze forced the closure of a 17 mile stretch of the Garden State Parkway.
As of 9 p.m., the southbound lanes were reopened between exits 69 and 63 and the northbound lanes had reopened between exits 74 and 80.
A wildfire has ripped through 8,500 acres and forced more than 3,000 evacuations as of Tuesday night in Ocean County.New Jersey Forest Fire Service
The New Jersey Turnpike Authority did not say when the rest of the road would reopen, but the Barnegat Township Police Department said on its Facebook page that the highway was expected to remain closed until midnight.
However, the department cautioned that the residents should plan for an alternate route to get to work in the morning in case the closure is extended.
Jones Wildfire
Current road closures include:
- Rt. 532 (Wells Mills Road) between Rt. 72 and the Garden State Parkway
- Bryant Road is closed between Wells Mills Road (Rt. 532) and Rt. 539
- Jones Road is closed between Rt. 532 and Bryant Road
- Garden State Parkway is closed between Barnegat Road and Lacey Road
- Closures on Rt. 9 from Lakeside Drive to Rt. 532 (both directions).
- Closures on secondary and tertiary roadways
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. No injuries have been reported.
According to Lacey Township police, the fire crossed Route 9 in Forked River forcing mandatory evacuations in South Barnegat Pines south of Lakeside Drive South.
Residents in the Beach Boulevard area from Route 9 to the Lacey Elks, and all of the areas in between Route 9 and the Lacey Elks were told to evacuate.
Lacey Township residents who need a place to go can shelter at Manchester Township High School, the department said.
The two designated shelters for those were forced from their homes are Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin and Manchester Township High School in Manchester. Both are accepting pets.
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Chris Sheldon may be reached at [email protected].
