2025 New Jersey Wildfire Season: Elevated Wildfire Risk (March 27th)

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ
316 AM EDT Thu Mar 27 2025

NJZ001-007>010-012>027-271800-
Sussex-Warren-Morris-Hunterdon-Somerset-Middlesex-
Western Monmouth-Eastern Monmouth-Mercer-Salem-Gloucester-Camden-
Northwestern Burlington-Ocean-Cumberland-Atlantic-Cape May-
Atlantic Coastal Cape May-Coastal Atlantic-Coastal Ocean-
Southeastern Burlington-
Including the cities of Newton, Washington, Morristown,
Flemington, Somerville, New Brunswick, Freehold, Sandy Hook,
Trenton, Pennsville, Glassboro, Camden, Cherry Hill, Moorestown,
Mount Holly, Jackson, Millville, Hammonton, Cape May Court House,
Ocean City, Atlantic City, Long Beach Island,
and Wharton State Forest
316 AM EDT Thu Mar 27 2025

...Increased Risk of Rapid Fire Spread Later Today...
There is an increased risk for rapid fire spread later today
across portions of New Jersey. Minimum relative humidity values
will be around 20 percent combined with west to northwest winds of
10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. High temperatures today
will be in the mid to upper 50s. These conditions, along with the
continued drying of fine fuels, could support the rapid spread of
any fires that ignite, which could quickly become difficult to
control.
Outdoor burning is strongly discouraged. Be sure to properly
extinguish or dispose of any potential ignition sources, including
smoking materials such as cigarette butts. 

Special Weather Statement

National Weather Service New York NY

407 PM EDT Wed Mar 26 2025

NJZ002-004-006-103>108-NYZ074-272300-

Western Passaic-Eastern Passaic-Hudson-Western Bergen-

Eastern Bergen-Western Essex-Eastern Essex-Western Union-

Eastern Union-Richmond (Staten Island)-

407 PM EDT Wed Mar 26 2025

...ELEVATED RISK FOR FIRE SPREAD THURSDAY...

The combination of low relative humidity values between 20 and 30

percent and wind gusts 20 to 25 mph will create an elevated risk

for fire spread across the region on Thursday.

Exercise caution handling any potential ignition sources, including

machinery, cigarettes, and matches. Any fires that ignite will have

the potential to spread quickly.

This forecast considers meteorological, fuel, and land conditions

and has been developed in coordination with state fire and land

management officials.

2025 Wildfire Season: Devastating Wildfires in South Korea

Direct link to video from WKRN News 2 on YouTube

Thanks to my friends at the B10 NJ Wildfire Page and yesterdays edition (March 25th) of  Wildfire News of the Day by Mike Archer who made me aware of the devastating wildfires in South Korea that have burned over 40,000 acres and killed 24 people, 26 are injured and more than 23,000 people were evacuated. If I am not mistaken the wildfires began on or about Friday, March 21st. The video that I embedded above was shared today on the B10 NJ Wildfire Page. It appears that weather conditions favorable to wildfires will continue in South Korea for at least a day or so. 

Included among the articles shared in yesterday's edition of Wildfire News of the Day are these three articles.

• March 25th report from Reuters
• Satellite images from SciTechDaily
• Photos from the Korea Herald

The 6 minute video that I embed below is from BBC. You will learn more about these wildfires if you take a few moments to watch the video.

Direct link to video from BBC on YouTube

2025 New Jersey Wildfire Season: Elevated Wildfire Risk (March 25th)

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ
819 AM EDT Tue Mar 25 2025

NJZ001-007-PAZ054-055-060>062-101-260000-
Sussex-Warren-Carbon-Monroe-Berks-Lehigh-Northampton-
Western Chester-
Including the cities of Newton, Washington, Jim Thorpe,
Stroudsburg, Reading, Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Honey Brook,
and Oxford
819 AM EDT Tue Mar 25 2025

...Increased Risk of Rapid Fire Spread This Afternoon...

There is an increased risk for rapid fire spread this afternoon
across portions of eastern Pennsylvania and northwestern New
Jersey. Minimum relative humidity values will be between 20 and
30 percent combined with west winds of 10-20 mph and gusts of 20
to 30 mph. High temperatures this afternoon will range from
the upper 40s to upper 50s. These conditions along with the
continued drying of fine fuels could support the rapid spread of
any fires that ignite, which could quickly become difficult to
control.

Outdoor burning is strongly discouraged. Be sure to properly
extinguish or dispose of any potential ignition sources, including
smoking materials such as cigarette butts.

$$
RCM

2025 New Jersey Wildfire Season: California Branch Wildfire is Contained

If you are unable to see the graphic that I shared from the post by the NJ Forest Fire Service on Facebook on Monday, March 24th at 8:30 AM, the California Branch is now contained. The California Branch fire that burned 2,336 acres in Wharton State Forest near Waterford in Camden County was first reported at 12:57 PM on Saturday March 23rd by a nearby fire tower and a second fire tower observed the same start so the exact location of the wildfire was identified. The wildfire crossed the Mullica River into Burlington County sometime Saturday night. Two campgrounds near the wildfire in Wharton State Forest were evacuated and I believe that they are now open. All roads in the vicinity of the wildfire are now open. The cause of the wildfire is under investigation. See the above NJFFS post for some photos of the fire. 

Local media covering this wildfire include 

• CBS Philadelphia
• New Jersey dot com
• News 12 New Jersey

Unfortunately, I am unable to share a similar graphic that the NJ Forest Fire Service shared on their X account, formerly Twitter.

2025 New Jersey Wildfire Season: California Branch Wildfire - Wharton State Forest ( March 23rd Update)

March 23rd, 6 PM

As of 6 PM the California Branch Fire has burned 2,300 acres in the Wharton State Forest near Waterford Township in Camden County, NJ. It is 80 percent contained. There continue to be road closures in Wharton State Forest and two campgrounds continue are still evacuated. There are still 18 structures near the wildfire and the fire continues to move away from these structures. Crews with equipment remain on scene fighting this wildfire. For more information not detailed in the NJFFS graphic from the X platform, please go the NJFFS March 23rd, 6 PM post on Facebook. NJ dot com has a current article on this wildfire that may be found here.

WILDFIRE UPDATE: California Branch Wildfire - Wharton State Forest - Waterford, Camden County

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service continues to make significant process containing a wildfire burning in the area of Raritan Ave and Old Atsion Rd in Wharton State Forest. pic.twitter.com/A7y8pUlvDr

— New Jersey Forest Fire Service (@njdepforestfire) March 23, 2025

March 23rd, 8:10 AM

As of 8:10 AM the California Branch Wildfire has burned 1,750 acres and is at 50 percent containment.

The California Branch Wildfire started on Saturday, March 23rd in Wharton State Forest in Waterford Township, Camden County NJ, see my March 22nd post for earlier updates. By 11 PM on March 22nd, the fire had burned 1,000 acres and was at 20 percent containment according to this Facebook Post by the NJ Forest Fire Service. 

According to the 8 AM update on Facebook from the NJFFS Crews from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) continued to work the fire overnight and are continuing to work the wildfire as I write this. Eighteen structures are located near the wildfire but the wildfire is still moving away from these structures. There are road closures within Wharton State Forest and two campgrounds are closed. Last night the wildfire crossed the Mullica River into Burlington County, NJ. NBC 10 Philadelphia continues to report on the wildfire. The B10 NJ Wildfire Page is reporting on this wildfire on March 23rd.

Unfortunately, I am unable to embed the latest 8AM update from the NJFFS's X account, formerly Twitter. The graphic above is from the NJFFS's Facebook account which I linked to earlier in this paragraph, unfortunately some of you will not be able to see this graphic.

2025 New Jersey Wildfire Season: California Branch Wildfire - Wharton State Forest

March 22nd, 6:15 PM 

WILDFIRE UPDATE: California Branch Wildfire - Wharton State Forest - Waterford, Camden County@NJDEPForestFire is on scene of a wildfire burning in the area of Raritan Ave and Old Atsion Rd in Wharton State Forest.

SIZE & CONTAINMENT
🔥 100 acres
🔥 0% contained pic.twitter.com/ewObYYlZ05

— New Jersey Forest Fire Service (@njdepforestfire) March 22, 2025

According to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service's post on Facebook about this fire at about 4 PM on Saturday, March 22nd, there are road closures in the area of this wildfire. Eighteen structures are threatened with no evacuations. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service is on the scene with engines, bulldozers and ground crews. In addition, there is a New Jersey Forest Fire Service on the scene making aerial observations. The next update is due at 9 PM, and I will try to make an update at that time. I first learned of this fire from my friends at the B10 NJ Wildfire Page. NBC 10 Philadelphia is reporting on this fire in a report that may be found here.

March 22nd, 7:50 PM

WILDFIRE UPDATE: California Branch Wildfire - Wharton State Forest - Waterford, Camden County

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service remains on scene of a wildfire burning in the area of Raritan Ave and Old Atsion Rd in Wharton State Forest. pic.twitter.com/UDjWRQmPug

— New Jersey Forest Fire Service (@njdepforestfire) March 22, 2025

Eighteen structures remain threatened but the wildfire is moving away from these structures. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service remains on scene. This same information with more information on road closures are available on the NJ Forest Fire Service's Facebook page on a 7:45 PM post. 

 

2025 Wildfire Season: Brushfire in Syracuse NY

Direct link to video from NewsChannel 9 WSYR Syracuse

I am not intimately familiar with Syracuse but have traveled through Syracuse on more than one occasion to see family in upstate New York. Further, as I am always on the lookout for brushfires or wildfires of any size on the east coast of the United States. My thanks to Mike Archer of Wildfire News of the Day for his great newsletter that often highlights brush and wildfires that I would not always know about. Such was the case in his March 20th newsletter when I saw this March 20th article on Syracuse.com about a small brushfire that burned near a park in Syracuse, New York on March 19th. While small in size, the winds lead to 30 foot high flames that were visible for several miles. The fire was fully contained and extinguished sometime during the night of March 19th at four or five acres. As I think about this brushfire, I am reminded that there are many brushfires of this size in the eastern U.S and elsewhere that many do not know about. In particular, I am reminded of the large number of brushfires of this size in my own state of New Jersey, most of which I do not know about. Wildfire fighting crews along with mutual aid do good work in keeping many brushfires small in size in order to protect nearby businesses and residents. Still, if you live close to one of these small brushfires, it can be scary. Thank-you wildland firefighters for working these small brushfires, your work is greatly appreciated

Getting Air Tankers and Helos Ready for 2025 Wildfire Season in U.S.

I have been doing this blog long enough to know that both spring maintenance and annual pilot training are done by companies with aircraft that fly fires do each year. I write this post as an acknowledgement of how important each are to safety and efficiency.

This is the time of year when companies with aircraft that fly fires in the United States perform what is sometimes known as spring maintenance on their aircraft to get them ready for the fire season. While I don't know how much time is involved nor do I know the particulars of what each company with aircraft the flies fires does, I believe the spring maintenance on each aircraft may go on for several days depending on what needs to be done. In addition, maintenance is done through the fire season as required to keep the aircraft performing in peak efficiency. All companies do this those with air tankers, lead planes, and helicopters. The examples that I know of are for air tankers only, please take them as an example that will apply to all aircraft flying fires. Neptune Aviation has a few pictures of their spring maintenance on their air tankers that they shared on their Facebook account which is found at this link. Coulson shared the following on X, formerly twitter:

A well-cared-for tanker is a ready tanker! Tanker 138 is back from Western Australia and is now in for spring maintenance, ensuring it stays in top shape for the North American season. Behind every mission is a crew dedicated to keeping our fleet fire-ready. #coulsonaviation pic.twitter.com/eWZDUGjmvY

— Coulson Aviation (@CoulsonAviation) March 10, 2025

As many of you know, getting ready for the wildfire season is more than spring maintenance of aircraft flying fires. The pilots go through annual training to keep current. Again, the examples I know of are from companies flying air tankers but this applies to any pilot flying aircraft on wildfires. Dauntless Air flys the AT-802F Fireboss, and they shared about their annual pilot training on their Facebook Page which you may find here. In addition 10 Tanker referenced their annual pilot training on their Facebook account in a short video that you may see here.

Dauntless Air AT-802F Fireboss

Direct link to video from Dauntless Air on YouTube

On early 2009 with the help of my retired air tanker pilot friend, Tom Janney, I began to use this blog to focus on aerial wildland firefighting. Tom died in March 2024 and I wrote a post dedicated to his memory and how he helped me which can be found here. Tom helped my learn about many of the aircraft flying fires in 2009 and was always available if I had questions. Since those early days. I have had a special place in my heart for Single Engine Air Tankers, aka SEATs. Some SEATs, e.g. the Air Tractor AT-802F Fireboss scoop water out of water bodies to use in aerial firefighting. While the capacity of their tanks seems small, about 800 gallons, when compared with larger air tankers they can scoop water from a water source near the fire and make many drops in a matter of a few hours. I learned about Dauntless Air a few years ago and follow them as I can. They have a presence on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter, account required). Dauntless has a fleet of AT-802F Firebosses.

Here is a 33 second video highlighting how the Fireboss scoops water.

Direct link to video from Dauntless Air on YouTube

2025 New Jersey Wildfire Season: Scotland Run Wildfire Contained

Direct link to video from CBS Philadelphia on YouTube

Direct link to video from NBC 10 Philadelphia on YouTube

I understand from the NJ Forest Fire Service's (NJFFS) earlier posts on X, formerly Twitter, as well as a post on the B10 NJ Wildland Fire page that the Scotland Run Wildfire in Franklin Township, Gloucester County was spotted by the Blue Anchor Fire Tower at about 3:34 PM on Wednesday, March 12. Early on 60 structures were threatened but there were no evacuations. New Jersey Forest Fire Service crews will remain on scene to strengthen containment lines and to be sure that any areas of concern are addressed. For those of you who might be interested. you should be able to look at the NJFFS's earlier posts on this fire on their Facebook account: initial report, second report and the third report. I shared their final report posted to their X account below. I added the two embedded videos to this post about 1 PM on March 14th, thanks to my friends at the B10 NJ Wildland Fire page for sharing these videos today.

WILDFIRE UPDATE: Scotland Run Wildfire - Franklin Twp, Gloucester County

At 8 a.m. on Thursday, March 13, the @NJDEPForestFire achieved 100% containment of a 191-acre wildfire burning in the area of of Pennsylvania Ave and Proposed Ave in Franklin Twp, Gloucester County. pic.twitter.com/5V9Xew4tM3

— New Jersey Forest Fire Service (@njdepforestfire) March 13, 2025