Firebreak to be constructed in Barnegat NJ (in the Pine Barrens)

The last large wildfire that burned in the New Jersey Pine Barrens was the Warren Grove Fire that burned over 15,000 acres in May of 2007. In January 2009, I wrote about a couple of trips I took to the Pine Barrens with references to the Warren Grove Fire and posted some photos of how the area has come back after the fire, go here to read this post.

Among the areas affected by this fire were clusters of residences in Barnegat and Stafford Townships NJ. These communities adopted a fire safety plan in November of 2008 that included the construction of firebreaks. Someone recently sent me this article from the Asbury Park Press about a planned firebreak along Pancoast Road on the border of Barnegat and Ocean Townships in New Jersey. I believe that this firebreak may have been a part of the fire safety plan passed in November 2008.

Note that this article may only be freely available until this Thursday, Feb. 25. The article says in part:

A nearly three-mile long fire break to protect adult communities in Barnegat got a green light Friday from the state Pinelands Commission, a step toward what fire wardens say will be a 200-foot wide selective thinning of a dense pine-oak forest along Pancoast Road on the boundary of Barnegat and Ocean townships.

The plan is similar to a project along Hay Road in Stafford, and likewise inspired by the great May 2007 forest fire that forced thousands to evacuate their homes west of the Garden State Parkway. Since then, the commission, the state Forest Fire Service and municipal officials have been working with community groups to be better prepared against wildfires.

The plan was presented last weekend to one community meeting in Barnegat, where a longtime resident told of a 1928 fire that destroyed his family's home, division fire warden Gergory McLaughlin recounted to commissioners Friday at their monthly meeting in Pemberton Township.

In the event of another major blaze, "this fire break is our last ditch attempt to protect those communities and our firefighters," McLaughlin said. ...

The plan is to selectively remove trees up to 200 feet from the north side of Pancoast Road, along 2.9 miles, and create "a more open, park-like forest," and lower the shrub height somewhat but not completely clearing to the ground, McLaughlin said. That aims to reduce the "fire ladder" of flammable low growth that can light the fuse for a fast-moving "crown fire" that burns high in the forest canopy and quickly skips from tree to tree, he explained. State foresters would periodically maintain the fire break to manage its growth density and fuel levels.

(Kirk Moore "Fire-break planned along Barnegat-Waretown line" Asbury Park Press, February 19, 2009, obtained on February 21, 2009 from http://www.app.com/article/20100219/NEWS/100219115/Fire-break-planned-along-Barnegat-Waretown-line).

What is a firebreak? According to the Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) a firebreak is a natural or constructed barrier used to stop or check fires that may occur, or to provide a control line from which to work.

In an ideal situation, I would of waited a couple of more days to post this to allow myself time to try and find out some more information for you. But if I did that then I risked having an expired link in my article, so I am posting this today. If I am able to find more information on this firebreak, I'll make some follow-up posts.

In the meantime, I'll be making a couple of more posts on BAER and hydromulching so stay tuned.