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New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette, at a Thursday, Sept. 21 news conference, said funding for new firefighting equipment and staff is vital as climate change heightens and lengthens wildfire seasons in the Garden State.
This year was among the busiest and longest wildfire season in a decade, state officials said.
Forest Fire Service Administrator and Chief Greg McLaughlin said there is a high probability of a busy October fire season this year in New Jersey as well.
“In addition to protecting lives and property, our Forest Fire Service assists with natural disasters, maintains hundreds of miles of roads, works alongside multiple cooperators to develop and implement strategic plans that reduce the risk of future wildfires, and lends their talents to other states when wildfires strike,” LaTourette.said in a press statement.
Additional money will be made available to expand the Forest Fire Service’s contracted air support during peak spring fire season and to help fund full-time employees to fill vacancies, authorities said.
“This year we saw the challenges the Forest Fire Service can face with a prolonged wildfire season and multiple significant wildfires burning simultaneously in the Pinelands and elsewhere throughout the state,” said John Cecil, assistant commissioner for State Parks, Forests and Historic Sites.
Wildfire season in New Jersey typically peaks toward the end of April and winds down around May. But in recent years, wildfires have started as early as February and stretched into September as they did this year.
In late August, a wildfire at Wharton State Forest in Camden County consumed 1,778 acres before it was contained. On Labor Day weekend, here was a large wildfire near the Ocean County Airport that burned more than 800 acres.
To date, the Forest Fire Service has responded to 1,034 wildfires which have burned 17,979 acres in New Jersey, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. Fourteen of the fires were considered to be major wildfires burning in excess of 100 acres, making 2023 the busiest fire season in more than a decade.
There was the Allen Road Wildfire in Bass River Township, Burlington County, which burned 5,474 acres and forced the closure of part of the Garden State Parkway.
In New Jersey, 99% of wildfires are caused by people, through accidents, carelessness and arson, according to the DEP. The rest are caused by lightning strikes, the state agency said.
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