New Jersey firefighters got the upper hand Wednesday on a blaze that has charred nearly 3,900 wooded acres and forced the evacuation of 170 homes, authorities said.
The Jimmy’s Waterhole Fire in Ocean County started on Tuesday and was 50% contained by late Wednesday morning, New Jersey Forest Fire Service Assistant Warden Trevor Raynor told reporters in Whiting, about 50 miles north of the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
Firefighters have circled the blaze that’s burned 3,859 acres and hope it won’t get much larger.
“The synopsis for today is to continue to improve and reinforce the control lines and continue to mop up,” Raynor said.
With warm and dry weather forecast for the next several days, firefighters want to snuff out the blaze so they can be ready to battle the next one.
“So today is probably a worse fire day than it was yesterday, so we’re looking to wrap this fire up quickly and safely … so that we’re ready for the next wildfire,” Raynor said.
About 70 homes in Manchester Township and another 100 in nearby Lakehurst had to be evacuated but all of those structures appeared to be safe by Wednesday morning.
“The structure protection units for the fire companies did an outstanding job,” Manchester Police Chief Robert Dolan said.
Read the full article here