I have been reflecting on the busy spring wildfire season in New Jersey in the middle of April. It was already an earlier and busier wildfire season in New Jersey, see this April 3 news release from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection for more details. The news release discussed the wildfire season in New Jersey on April 3, a relevant excerpt is quoted below:
New Jersey has had an early start to wildfire season this year. Since imageJanuary 1, 2023, the Forest Fire Service has responded to 315 wildfires which have burned 919.75 acres. The largest of these fires was the Governors Branch Wildfire which sparked on March 7 in the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area in Little Egg Harbor, Ocean County. Smoke from the fire was spotted at 11:45 a.m. by the nearby Cedar Bridge Fire Tower and reached 100% containment that evening after burning 418 acres of forest. The area where the fire burned had previously been treated with prescribed fire in 2018 and, therefore, did not burn as intensely as it could have. The cause of the Governors Branch fire remains under investigation (NJ Department of Environmental Protection News Release, April 3, 2023, Forest Fire Service reminds residents to be careful with fire as New Jersey enters peak wildfire season).
Knowing the wildfire numbers in New Jersey on April 3rd, I went into my blog and pulled out summary information of four major wildfires in New Jersey that I knew about. I knew of a couple of much smaller wildfires that burned in April and I am certain that there are other smaller wildfires that I do not know bout. Here is the summary of these four major wildfires. These four fires burned a combined 6,695 acres.
- Jimmy’s Waterhole Fire, Manchester Township, Ocean County NJ, reported on April 11, 2023. Burned 3,859 acres. Contained on April 13, 2023.
- Kanouse Fire, Milford Township, Passaic County NJ, reported on April 12, 2023. Burned 972 acres. Contained on April 15, 2023.
- Log Swamp Fire, Little Egg Harbor Township, Ocean County NJ, reported on April 15, 2023. Burned 1,607 acre. Contained on April 15, 2023.
- River Road Fire, Washington Township, Burlington County NJ, reported on April 18, 2023. Burned 257 acres. Contained on April 19, 2023.
Simple arithmetic reveals that starting with the 919.75 acreage burned as of April 3rd that had burned in New Jersey and adding the 6,695 ares burned in the four major wildfires that I mentioned earlier and we arrive at 7,614.75 acres burned. But I know that is not all the acreage burned because that figure does not include the many smaller wildfires that burned during this period.
Fortunately a May 2 CBS Philadelphia news report on the Jimmy's Waterhole Fire that reviews the fire, discusses the aftermath of this fire with an official from the NJ Forest Fire Service and most important for my purpose is that CBS Philadelphia got acreage burned through May 1, 2023 from the NJ Forest Fire Service. I have got a screen shot of acreage burned to date compared with numbers a year ago from the video. You will see that as of May 1st, 579 wildfires have burned 7,914 acres. This leaves us with 264 wildfires (579 - 418) just under 300 acres burned from April 4th through May 1st in New Jersey, accounting for smaller wildfires. I must acknowledge that my calculations may not be an accurate accounting of wildfire activity in New Jersey from April 4th through May 1st and any errors in my calculations are mine alone and may not reflect official accounting of wildfire activity through May 1st from the NJ Forest Fire Service. However, it is my intention to pro rough idea of a busy spring wildfire season in NJ during much of April. Fortunately it rained later in April, providing relief for wildland firefighters and helping stave off a drought.
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| Screenshot from May 2, 2023 CBS Philadelphia news report on Youtube on the "aftermath of Ocean County's wildfire that burned nearly 4,000 acres" |
I am embedding the May 2 video report from CBS Philadelphia below. It is a nice video, under three minutes and I hope you take the time to watch the video. Thanks again to all wildland firefighters from the NJ Forest Fire Service on the ground and in the air along with the all important support from local firefighters, EMS, volunteers bringing food, etc.
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