2019 wildfire season: small fire in northern NJ (Division A) on October 2nd

Wednesday afternoon, a friend of mine gave me a heads up about a small wildfire that was burning near the Appalachian Trail(AT) in northern New Jersey (Division A). I am not quite sure of exactly where this fire was located so I won't post a map. In years past when I had a better pair of knees, I had done various day hikes on the AT from where the trail crosses Interstate 80 near the Delaware River to about 16 miles north of Interstate 80. This was about 20 years, a few day hikes over a couple of years. I do occasionally take much shorter hikes on the approach trails to the AT, as my knees allow. much of the AT in this part of New Jersey is fairly rugged. Approaching the AT, you either climb part of the way in your car to a trail junction or you park near the River and climb to the ridge either along the AT or on one of a few side trails in either Worthington State Forest or the Delaware River National Recreation Area.

I am not a wildland firefighter, but I can imagine that fighting a wildfire in this area is hard work. And depending on where the wildfire is, access may be difficult.  If the wildfire is on a ridge, then the terrain can be an issue.

I don't know many specifics about this wildfire. I am pretty certain that the fire is contained. I say that because we got some rain in northern New Jersey and I suspect that the rain helped the firefighters. Nonetheless, I offer my kudos and thanks to the wildland firefighters for your work in fighting the wildfire. Given how dry it had been up until early Wednesday evening, the fire could have been a whole lot worse than it was.

Thank-you National Park Service and New Jersey Forest Fire Service wildland firefighters! You rock!

For more information on this fire, read this short article from the North Jersey Herald.