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Monday, November 09, 2020

New Jersey Forest Fire Service: fighting a small and a moderate sized wildfire (November 7th to 8th)

I rarely, if ever, see such a small wildfire reported on by media outlets. I do not think it really matters that I do not specifics on these very small wildfires in New Jersey. The important thing is that NJFFS crews are quick to respond to all wildfires and are able to bring many fires under control at one acre or less. The point is that large or small the New Jersey Forest Service as well as crews in your State and national crews work hard to bring wildfires under control, stopping that a small amount of acreage burned.

Consider wildfires under one acre. Sometimes  these under one-acre wildfires may be near residences. Case in point is a one-quarter acre fire that burned on November 8th (see this Facebook post from NJFFS Section B10 ) in Marlboro New Jersey behind some residences. Good efforts by NJFFS Section B-10 aided by little if any wind meant that the wildfire was stopped at one-quarter acre. I happen to know about this very small wildfire because I regularly visit the NJFFS Section B10 Facebook page during my regular routine to check out wildfire news. Jersey Forest Fire Service crews. please know that I am always thinking of you and know that at any given time you may be out there fighting a wildfire, sometimes quite small to keep us in New Jersey safe.

Moving to slightly larger wildfires, I heard from a friend about a wildfire (the Gas-line Fire) of approximately 30 acres that burned in West Milford, Passaic County NJ (NJFFS Division A, Section A2) over the weekend. I understand that a NJFFS helicopter worked the fire to support the wildland firefighters on the ground. This is another example of what is probably one of many wildfires of this size that are not covered by media outlets. They may have gone unnoticed by me if it weren’t for my friend and a November 7th from another NJFFS Section B10 social media post reporting on the fire on November 7th. I don’t know any more information. What I will say is that hopefully by now, this 30-acre wildfire is well on the way to being contained by NJFFS Section A2 crews.

New Jersey Forest Fire Service crews, whether or not conventional media (newspapers, broadcast media) does not report on what you are doing does not matter. I know you are there. Same holds for social media accounts, I know you are there. You are dedicated to keeping us safe from wildfires because that is what you do. You often do so without fanfare and accolades. Well, take this post as my fanfare and accolades to you for a job well done.

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