Wildfire in New Jersey Pine Barrens at 75% containment, officials say

WARETOWN, N.J. (AP) — Three-fourths of a vast wildfire in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens has been contained, state officials said Monday.

The state Forest Fire Service said the blaze in southern New Jersey’s Ocean County had grown to nearly 24 square miles (62 square kilometers) but was 75% contained. No deaths or injuries have been reported, though several buildings and vehicles have been destroyed officials said.

A 19-year-old man from Waretown is charged with arson. Prosecutors say Joseph Kling set wood pallets on fire and left the area before putting them out, sparking what became the state’s second-largest fire in nearly two decades.

The Office of the Public Defender, representing King, said he’s “presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.”

It’s forest fire season in the vast pine wilderness that covers more than 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) — an area roughly as large as the Grand Canyon — and firefighters are contending with low humidity and the aftermath of a monthslong drought. The Pine Barrens sit between Philadelphia and the Atlantic coast, a region with quick-draining sandy soil and trees with still-developing leaves where winds can kick up, drying out the forest floor.

The fire service said the smoke is expected to linger until the next significant rainfall.