A野火在新泽西州，周二在海洋县点燃后，爆炸面积达到13，250英亩，威胁到1000多座建筑物，关闭了一条主要公路，导致数千人逃离火焰。
到周三下午，官员们表示，消防队员正在控制火势。据新泽西州森林消防局官员称，截至美国东部时间下午7点，琼斯路野火的火势已被控制了50%。
新泽西州环境保护专员肖恩·拉图雷特(Shawn LaTourette)表示，消防官员预计火势将会扩大，这可能是新泽西州20年来最大的一场野火。
拉图雷特说:“由于新泽西州消防队的优秀男女们令人难以置信的英勇工作，家园和生命得以挽救，我们真正避免了一场重大灾难。”
拉图雷特说，目前还没有人员受伤的报道。
新泽西州森林消防局局长比尔·唐纳利在周三下午的新闻发布会上说，工作人员将工作到深夜，继续控制火势。
唐纳利说，大火继续威胁着532号县公路沿线的18座建筑，该公路周三下午仍然关闭。
州环境保护部负责国家公园、森林和历史遗迹的助理专员约翰·塞西尔说，到目前为止，大火已经摧毁了一座商业建筑，损坏了几座小木屋和其他建筑。
官员们表示，他们预计到本周末火势将被完全控制。官员们说，周三大约有100名消防队员从地面和空中与大火搏斗。
周三下午，火灾的起因和原因仍在调查中。
周二上午9点45分，海洋县的格林伍德森林管理区首次报告了位于花园州公园大道沿线的汤姆斯河以南的火灾，火灾是在阵风、干燥的植被和较低的相对湿度的推动下发生的，一名官员称该地区为“非常荒凉和不受控制的空间”，覆盖着松树。
新泽西州森林消防局的部门森林防火员特雷弗·雷诺说，火灾最初是在新泽西州巴尼加特镇附近的雪松桥消防塔发现的。
“我们立刻分派了资源。当他们到达现场时，火势大约有10到20英亩，”雷诺说。“我们很快就有了资源，我们派出了飞机，即使大规模展示武力，它也变成了一场大规模的野火。”
大火在一夜之间蔓延至8500英亩，一度蔓延至花园州公园大道，使新泽西州最繁忙的道路之一陷入停顿。官员们说，大火一度威胁到1000多所房屋。官员们说，消防队员能够阻止火势蔓延，与地面上的工作人员和制造水滴的飞机进行战斗。
新泽西州副州长塔赫沙·韦(Tahesha Way)在州长菲尔·墨菲(Phil Murphy)不在国内时担任代理州长，他在周三早上宣布海洋县进入紧急状态，腾出资源来扑灭大火。
官员们说，大火威胁到海洋镇和莱西镇的建筑。
唐纳利说，主要由于整个新泽西州，特别是该州南部的干旱状况，消防队员今年头四个月很忙。
他指出，去年这个时候，全州发生了310起野火，烧毁了315英亩土地。唐纳利说，今年到目前为止，全州发生了662起野火，烧毁了16，572英亩土地。
“新泽西州拥有全国最不稳定的荒地燃料，”唐纳利告诉记者消防员在灭火时面临的挑战。“你知道，每个人都习惯看加利福尼亚...嗯，这里的松树林是完全一样的燃料模型。他们就像把凝固汽油弹撒在地上一样。”
官员们强调，直到该地区看到更多的降雨，野火的威胁将继续存在。
周二，迅速蔓延的大火促使一些居民撤离。周三，消防队员解除了疏散令，并警告居民保持警惕。
海洋县居民迈克尔·费拉拉说，星期二他惊恐地看到火焰和烟雾逼近他的邻居，促使他听从强制疏散命令。
“随着时间的推移，这有点可怕，”费拉拉在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时谈到周二晚上权衡去留的决定。
“烟和一切都在我的后院。所有的东西都被黑色的灰烬覆盖，”另一名疏散人员凯利·门多萨说。
他说他首先想到的是保证自己和家人的安全。
"但是你要带些什么——出生证明、护照吗?"费拉拉说。“这只是一种非常怪异的感觉。”
拉图雷特说，一千多座建筑一度受到威胁，超过5000名居民听从强制疏散命令或自愿疏散。
由于火灾造成的被迫停电也让至少25，000名客户处于黑暗之中。周三的天气预报预计整个早上都将有微风，来自北方的阵风可达每小时20英里，但随着高压开始进入该地区，周五晚上开始下雨，今天下午风应该会平静下来。
琼斯路大火是自2022年6月以来新泽西州最大的野火，当时穆利卡河大火烧毁了伯灵顿县沃顿州立森林的13，500英亩土地。如果火势超过这个范围，这将是近18年来最大的一次。2007年5月，沃伦格罗夫大火烧毁了新泽西州南部17000英亩的松林。
New Jersey wildfire explodes to 13,250 acres, could be largest in nearly 20 years
Awildfirein New Jersey exploded to 13,250 acres after igniting Tuesday in Ocean County and threatening more than 1,000 structures, shutting down a major highway and causing thousands of people to flee the flames.
By Wednesday afternoon, officials said firefighters were gaining the upper hand on the blaze. The Jones Road Wildfire was 50% contained as of 7 p.m. ET, according to New Jersey Forest Fire Service officials.
Shawn LaTourette, New Jersey's commissioner of Environmental Protection, said fire officials expect the blaze to grow and that it could turn out to be the largest wildfire in New Jersey in 20 years.
"Thanks to the incredible, heroic work of the good men and women of our New Jersey fire service folks, homes and lives have been saved and we truly averted a major disaster," LaTourette said.
LaTourette said that no injuries have been reported.
Crews will work into the night to continue containing the fire, said Chief Bill Donnelly of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
Donnelly said the fire continued to threaten 18 structures along County Route 532, which remained closed to traffic Wednesday afternoon.
So far, the fire has destroyed one commercial structure and damaged several cabins and other structures, said John Cecil, assistant commissioner for State Parks, Forests and Historic Sites for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Officials said they expect to have the fire fully contained by this weekend. About 100 firefighters were battling the blaze from the ground and air on Wednesday, officials said.
The origin and cause of the fire remained under investigation Wednesday afternoon.
Fanned by wind gusts, dry vegetation and low relative humidity, the fire, located south of Toms River along the Garden State Parkway, was first reported at 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday in Ocean County's Greenwood Forest Management area, which an official described as "pretty wild and untamed space" covered with pine trees.
Trevor Raynor, a division forest fire warden for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, said the fire was first spotted from the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower near Barnegat Township, New Jersey.
"We dispatched resources right off the bat. When they arrived at the location, the fire was about 10 to 20 acres," Raynor said. "We had resources there quickly, we dispatched aircraft, and even with a big show of force, it grew to be a large wildfire."
The fire exploded overnight to 8,500 acres and at one point jumped the Garden State Parkway, bringing one of New Jersey’s busiest roads to a halt. At one point, the fire threatened more than 1,000 homes, officials said. But firefighters were able to head off the fire, battling it with crews on the ground and aircraft making water drops, officials said.
New Jersey Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, who is serving as acting governor while Gov. Phil Murphy is out of the country, declared a state of emergency in Ocean County on Wednesday morning, freeing up resources to battle the blaze.
Officials said the blaze threatened structures in Ocean and Lacey Townships.
Due mostly to drought conditions across New Jersey, particularly the southern part of the state, firefighters have had a busy first four months of the year, Donnelly said.
He noted that at this time last year, there had been 310 wildfires across the state that scorched 315 acres. So far this year, Donnelly said there have been 662 wildfires statewide that have burned 16,572 acres.
"New Jersey has some of the most volatile wildland fuels in the entire country," Donnelly told reporters of the challenges firefighters have faced battling the blaze. "You know, everybody's used to seeing California ... Well, these pine barrens out here are the exact same type of fuel model. They are just like having napalm spread across the ground."
Officials stressed that until the region sees more rainfall, the wildfire threat will continue.
The rapidly spreading blaze spurred evacuations of some residents on Tuesday. By Wednesday, firefighters lifted the evacuation order and cautioned residents to stay on alert.
Ocean County resident Michael Ferrara said he watched in horror Tuesday as flames and smoke closed in on his neighborhood, prompting him to heed the mandatory evacuation orders.
"As the day progressed, it was kind of scary," Ferrara told ABC News about weighing his decision Tuesday night to leave or stay.
"Smoke and everything was right in my backyard. Everything was covered in black ashes," said Kelly Mendoza, another evacuee.
He said the first thing that went through his mind was keeping himself and his family safe.
"But what are you going to take with you -- birth certificates, passports?" Ferrara said. "It's just a very eerie feeling."
LaTourette said that more than a thousand structures were under threat at one point and more than 5,000 residents heeded mandatory evacuation orders or voluntarily evacuated.
A forced power outage due to the fires has also left at least 25,000 customers in the dark. Wednesday’s forecast is expected to be breezy through the morning with winds gusting up to 20 mph from the north, but winds should calm this afternoon as high pressure starts moving into the region with the next chance for rain beginning Friday night.
The Jones Road fire is the largest wildfire in New Jersey since June 2022 when the Mullica River Fire scorched 13,500 acres across Wharton State Forest in Burlington County. If the fire surpasses that, it would be the largest in nearly 18 years. In May 2007, the Warren Grove Fire burned 17,000 acres in the Pinelands of southern New Jersey.
