2021 NJ wildfire season: brush fire in Lakewood/Brick Township contained

At 5 PM the New Jersey Forest Fire Service released the following statement on their Facebook page, the statement may be found here.

WILDFIRE UPDATE - LAKEWOOD, NJ - 5:00 P.M.

As of 2 p.m. today, the Lakewood area wildfire is at 167 acres and has reached 100 percent containment. Cold temperatures overnight aided fire suppression efforts. The fire will continue to smolder in interior areas east of the Garden State Parkway, south of Cedar Bridge Avenue, and north of Route 70. Patrol and mop-up activities will continue through the remainder of the day and into the evening. All roadways in the vicinity of the fire are open.

The fire's cause is under investigation.

A New Jersey Forest Fire Service firefighter remains in critical condition at a nearby hospital. (obtained on March 15, 2021, 6:55 PM from https://www.facebook.com/NJForestFireService/posts/793660281256590)

Residents in Brick Township New Jersey where 29 homes were damaged by the fire, but not significantly, spoke to the Asbury Park Press on March 15:

Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames consuming the exterior of Verlingo's home. Police officers told him it was the first house fire called in to 911, he said.

"That's why they were able to knock it down so fast," he said. Verlingo was able to return to his home.

Jennifer Baum of Francis Drive felt the same way as Verlingo."We were very, very lucky," she said. "The fire didn’t even touch our house.”  

The blaze did destroy her shed, pool heater, and a section of fence, she said.

After her daughter Laura noticed on a neighborhood Facebook group that some of her neighbors smelled the fire, she went outside to see what was happening.

“You could smell it in the house a little bit, but it wasn’t that bad. Then we came outside and we could see the firemen racing down the street. You could see it starting from the woods (behind their home) and then like 20 minutes later, they (the firemen) were telling us that we needed to evacuate, so it was pretty fast."

 See also an article from New Jersey Advance Media, March 15, 5:35 PM