Red Flag Warnings (May 2nd): New Jersey and Eastern Pennyslvania

May 2nd at 8:20 PM

The Daily Record of Morris County, NJ had a report with a video clip of the small brush fire that I referred to earlier today. Delta 7 (helicopter with bucket) made a total of four drops on this brush fire, off of busy Rte. 206 near Mt. Olive, New Jersey. Wildland firefighters from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) with the help of a number of fire companies and the NJFFS brought the brush fire under control in about 75 minutes early this afternoon. A direct link to the article and video report from the Daily Record (May 2nd) may be found here. This is the only wild/brush fire activity that I know about, I suspect that there were other wildfires around the state that I do not know about at this time.

May 2nd at 2:06 PM

The brush fire referred to an updated Facebook post from the Flanders Fire Co. #1 (posted at about noon today with a later update) may be the brush fire that my friend told me about, and if it is reported to be extinguished. Nice job everyone, thanks for keeping us safe!

May 2nd at 12:00 PM

Yesterday, May 1st, we see enhanced fire weather conditions in New Jersey. My friends in Central and Southern New Jersey tell me that things were quiet yesterday. Although perhaps there were some smaller brush fires that were quickly contained. I know of one small brush fire in Northern New Jersey yesterday, I suspect that there were more. The Quakertown NJ Fire Company - 91 Fire/Rescue reported on Facebook that a a two-acre fire in Franklin Township NJ was controlled

Today there are more Red Flag Warnings, today for all of New Jersey and adjoining areas of Eastern Pennsylvania through 9PM tonight, see this post on Facebook by the National Weather Service at Mt. Holly NJ for more information.

As I understand it, during Red Flag Warnings, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) has engines on patrol in all affected Divisions. Today this would mean that all three Divisions have patrols on the road. And of course all fire towers are manned. Tanker 61 (AT-602, NJFFS Division C, So NJ), Tanker 81 (AT-802, NJFFS Division B, Central NJ), and the Helicopter and bucket in NJFFS Division A (NO. NJ) are manned and ready to fly to assist the firefighters on the ground should the call come. Patrols on the road coupled with fire tower observers will mean a quick response. Thanks to a knowledgeable friend, I am hearing about a brush fire in Morris County where the Division A Helicopter and bucket was working the brush fire. I have no other information, and when and if I do I will update this post.

I am also hearing about a tractor trailer that is or was on fire off of Interstate 78 in Clinton NJ (Hunterdon County). I have no reason to believe that this tractor trailer led to a brush fire. I'd imagine that the first responders got to the tractor trailer pretty quickly. But the smoke was visible for miles. Those who are interested may go to this NJ Advance Media article for more information.