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        Officials: Jackson wildfire that forced evacuation of homes is 20% contained

        Officials say the fire sparked Wednesday afternoon in the area of South Stump Tavern Road.

        Naomi Yané

        Nov 6, 2024, 7:35 PM

        Updated 16 days ago

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        There was another wildfire in New Jersey. This time the fire was in Ocean County, and forced the evacuations of several homes. This is the fourth major wildfire over 100 acres in the last two weeks, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
        South Stump Tavern Road in Jackson Township remains closed as crews continue to battle this fire. One can see and smell the smoke in the air. The fire was only about 20% contained and burned 175 acres of land, as of 8 p.m. according to officials.
        New Jersey Forest Fire Service Chief Bill Donnelly said it is beginning to feel like DeJa'Vu.
        "Here we go again, it’s been nonstop. The last couple of weeks have been crazy,” he said.
        Fire officials say that six homes on the west side of Stump Tavern Road were evacuated. There are voluntary evacuations on the east side of Stump Tavern Road. Officials say that the fire is threatening 25 structures overall.
        The American Red Cross has set up an evacuation center for impacted residents. The center is at the Jackson Senior Center, 45 Don Connor Boulevard. Jim Updike had to evacuate his home and doesn't know when he can go back.
        "They came around and they said that they would suggest that you leave. They said it’s not mandatory evacuation yet but then they came back within a couple of hours and said they think that everybody should evacuate. And everybody did, they got out of there,” Updike said.
        Smoke from the fire can be seen from at least three miles away while on the ground. The state fire service says the call on this latest fire came in just after noon Wednesday and by the time crews were able to access it, 10-12 acres had already burned, according to Deale Carey from the state Forest Fire Service.
        "Went in, located the fire, tried to gain access and do a direct attack on the fire due to the size of the fire, the intensity it was burning probably 10 to 12 acres six to eight feet high the way the wind was pushing it I could not gain a safe access to get an acre point to try to run it down or contain the fire,” Carey said.
        There are at least 100 first responders from Jackson and neighboring townships trying to get this blaze under control. They’ve also lit backfires to keep the fire from spreading.
        "We put a dozer line around some houses to protect them from the fire advancement and then we lit some backfire to try to hold those fires in that area," Carey said.
        No injuries have been reported and no homes have been damaged. However, the Forest Fire Service continues to urge caution while New Jersey is in the midst of this drought. People who live near this fire are advised to keep their windows closed.