NEW JERSEY - WGOLV - The Murphy Administration today encouraged the public to maintain wildfire awareness and water conservation efforts as drought conditions continue into the spring. This period marks the peak wildfire season in New Jersey and coincides with increased water demand for landscaping, gardening, and lawn care throughout the state, as stated in a recent announcement from the New Jersey Emergency Management Association.
At 8 am today, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service achieved 100% containment of a 191-acre wildfire burning in the area of Pennsylvania Ave and Proposed Ave in Franklin Township, Gloucester County bordering Philadelphia.
The fire was initially spotted from the Blue Anchor Fire Tower at 3:34 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12.
Early on in the firefight, 60 structures were threatened, however, no structures were evacuated.
Forest Fire Service crews will remain on scene for the next several days to continue to improve containment lines and address areas of concern until significant precipitation occurs to ensure public safety. Smoke is expected to remain present until significant rain falls over the fire area.
New Jersey remains under an official drought warning and enters spring following minimal precipitation in the fall coupled with the third-driest January on record and well-below average precipitation throughout the winter.
While precipitation in February was nearly normal, it was not enough to fully replenish reservoirs and groundwater, according to the announcement. These conditions have also dramatically increased spring wildfire risk and severely hampered efforts by the Department of Environmental Protection’s Forest Fire Service to conduct prescribed fire operations that are critical to preventing wildfires.
According to the announcement, the Forest Fire Service typically targets 25,000 acres of forest, grasslands and marshlands for treatments with prescribed fire. Persistent dry conditions, however, have significantly limited this work with 1,707 acres of grasslands and six acres of forest being treated to date – a historic low.
All regions of New Jersey have been under drought warning since Nov. 13, 2024, meaning residents are strongly urged to voluntarily conserve water.
The Department is coordinating with water systems to ensure they are using all available sources to increase supplies for the spring season. If conditions do not improve, the next step could be the declaration of a drought emergency, which carries mandatory restrictions. The last statewide drought emergency was declared in March 2002 and lifted in January 2003.
In response to the ongoing conditions, the Administration has launched the NJ Wildfire SMART (Safety, Mitigation, Awareness, Response, Training) public safety awareness initiative. A separate spring conservation outreach campaign launched this week ahead of peak irrigation season provides tips on how to reduce water usage when gardening, landscaping, and preparing lawns.
Photos courtesy New Jersey Forest Fire Service
For information on the campaign and toolkits, visit DEP’s Every Drop Counts website.
More information and toolkits to help your agencies be prepared can be found here:
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