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The wildfire jumped the entire width of the Garden State Parkway from Lakewood into Brick Township, damaged homes, office buildings and commercial businesses on and around Route 70 and forced the evacuations of a hotel, businesses and an entire neighborhood.
Of 29 homes damaged in the Brick Lake Park area, three were deemed uninhabitable, Brick Mayor John Ducey said. Remaining residents were allowed to return around 6:30 p.m., five hours after the blaze broke out, he said.
Meanwhile, two mixed-use professional/commercial structures were destroyed, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (FFS) reported late Sunday.
"The origin has been identified and the cause is under investigation, though we can state it was not from a prescribed burn as reported inaccurately online," the fire service said.
Firefighters from throughout Ocean and Monmouth counties joined the service, which used two helicopters and an airplane in rotation to dump water on the flames.
A firefighter was hospitalized in critical condition, the FFS said, without elaborating.
The blaze -- which began as a brush fire in the area of Airport Road and Cedarbridge Avenue in Lakewood around 1:30 p.m. -- continued burning deep into the night.
At that point, it had already consumed or charred an estimated 170 acres, according to the service.
It was by far the largest of more than a half-dozen large brush fires that raged throughout the Garden State on Sunday, whipped by winds reported at up to 40 miles an hour and low humidity that barely cracked 20%.
There were nearly as many smaller brush blazes, as well.
The fire service said it would "continue suppression, patrol and mop-up operations throughout the night and support from local fire companies will be scaled back throughout Sunday night as containment increases.
"Residents in the affected areas are urged to stay away from impacted areas and emergency response activity," the FSS added. "Drones of any kind interfere with the fire-fighting effort and are prohibited in the area."
State Police closed the Garden State Parkway from Exit 82 to Exit 91 until 9:30 p.m., although northbound entrance at Shorrock Street was to remain closed until a morning re-evaluation.
A westbound lane of Route 70 remained closed after the rest of the highway was reopened in both directions. Route 528 also was reopened.
The National Weather Service issued a “red flag warning” that the threat of fires continued into Monday in New Jersey, which was coming off four days of temperatures that pushed well over 60 degrees and two weeks without significant rainfall.
MORE FIRE VIDEO: Demonracer2 (YouTube)
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