New Jersey Spring 2018 Wildfire Season: April 11th

The 2018 spring wildfire season may be just beginning to ramp up here in New Jersey. I noted that this past Sunday, April 8th, the National Weather Service issued a special weather statement for enhanced fire weather. I don't know of any significant wildfires that burned in New Jersey this past weekend, but I suspect that there were some smaller wildfires that burned across the state.

To see a map of New Jersey from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service with a listing of the counties in each of the three divisions go here.

I do believe that the prescribed burn season is over in Central and Southern New Jersey. However, the prescribed burn season continues in Northern New Jersey. I believe, but am not certain, that prescribed burns will continue in Northern New Jersey through April 15th.

There were prescribed burns in Morris and Sussex Counties (Northern New Jersey, Division A) on April 9th, see this post from the NJ Forest Fire Service Section A3 for more information. I do not know of any prescribed burns that were scheduled for yesterday, April 10th. There are prescribed burns scheduled for today, April 11th in Sussex and Warren Counties that the NJ Forest Fire Service Section A3 shared on their Facebook in this April 11th post

Thanks to my friends at the B10 NJ Wildland Fire Page who posted the 2018 Contract Aircraft Schedule (this information should be up through May 15th) for providing specific information on the 2018 New Jersey Forest Fire Service Contract Aircraft. Before I get to the aircraft I need to talk about a new two digit aircraft numbering system that is being used effective in 2018. This designation is different from that used in earlier years (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie depending on which Division -- A, B, C -- the aircraft was working). Starting this year (2018) the first number (6 or 8) represents the aircraft type (e.g. the number of gallons (water) carried by the aircraft) with the second number representing the number of aircraft from the contractor.

The Air Tractor AT-602 carries 600 gallons so the first number of this aircraft is "6". The Air Tractor AT-802 carries 800 gallons so the first number of this aircraft is "8".

For the aircraft listed below, each contractor is (so far) providing one aircraft so the second number is "1".

• Division B (Central New Jersey), tanker 81 (Air Tractor AT-802, 800 gallons) will be on contract from April 12 through May 11 based at the R.J. Miller Airpark.
• Division C (Southern New Jersey, Tanker 61 (Air Tractor AT-602, 600 gallons) will be on contract from April 16 through May 15 based at Downstown Airport.

To the best of my knowledge a helicopter with a bucket will be based at Andover Aeroflex Airport in Division A (Northern New Jersey), however I am not sure of the exact dates.