April 14, 4:00 PM
The Kanouse Fire remains at 972 acres burned, containment has increased to 65 percent. One structure remains under evacuation orders and ten are threatened.
April 14, 11:40 AM
The Kanouse Fire currently burning in West Milford, NJ has grown to 972 acres and is currently at 55 percent containment. It is the largest wildfire in northern New Jersey since 2010. I listened to a New Jersey Forest Fire Service news conference at 11 AM this morning. Officials cited some environmental factors that lead to this growth leading to embers from the original fire location west of Echo Lake (see the map) spotting across Echo Lake causing a fire on the east side of the Lake. Officials discussed the impact of clusters of Ash Trees killed by the Emerald Ash Borer (aka snags), invasive species, and Mountain Laurel (oily leaves) that gave the opportunity for embers to be carried by the wind across Echo Lake to start a fire in this new location late in the afternoon of April 13th.
Last night evacuation were in place for five residences, four orders were lifted overnight with one evacuation still in place as I write this. Ten structures are threatened. No injuries have been reported. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) is assisted and is grateful to the support of local fire companies, many of which are volunteer, EMS workers, police departments and other responders for their help. They also cited the care of local residents who offered food and water and a place to shower to the fire fighters. A contract air tanker is working the fire as is a helicopter for observation and bucket work. NJFFS crews from central and southern New Jersey came to help. The NJFFS crews continued to perform backfiring operations last night. According to the Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, a backfire is "a fire set along the inner edge of a fireline to consume the fuel in the path of a wildfire or change the direction of force of the fire's convection column."
The concern over the next few days is that while there is rain in the forecast, it seems unlikely that there will be enough rain to fully control the fire as more than an inch of rain will be needed.
For more information see this report (includes video of NJFFS press conference) from CBS2 in NYC and this report from NJ Advance Media
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