CHATSWORTH — Investigators say a forest fire that burned more than 11,000 acres of the New Jersey Pinelands was caused by human activity in an area known for illegal bonfires.
The state Forest Fire Service stopped short of saying whether the blaze was deliberately set or caused accidentally, saying an investigation is ongoing. The fire was declared to be 100 percent contained on Monday, having burned 11,600 acres.
The blaze was spotted Saturday afternoon in the Penn State Forest in Woodland Township. Investigators say it began in a remote section of forest where people have been known to start illegal bonfires.
No homes or businesses were damaged by the blaze, and no injuries or mandatory evacuations were reported.
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This is truly devastating for our communities and natural preservation, and wildlife! Heartbreaking to say the least <3
Lori Verello-Calderon actually it really isn’t that devastating. It’s a cycle that happens around the world. It’s nature.
David Kanko yes I am aware of that but,I am almost certain they didn’t plan on 11,000 acres to burn?
But look at those mountains
This is horrible, so many acres gone because of what a human did!
Tracy McCabe IT WILL GROW BACK. The grind will be better
I realize it will grow back, however all these firemen worked their butts off risking their lives because of someone starting the fire. It just could have all been avoided if it wasn’t a controlled burn as I thought it was.
Not to mention the wildlife that was lost.
Carol Small same thing caused the one in double trouble a few years ago .
I remember that Traci Martinet
Tracy McCabe it was horrible.
it sure was!
Funny base was bombing witch i personally thought was crazy because they stopped bombing unless it is raining or about too because same thing happened
Nick Golio I heard it was a flare that was dropped accidentally during the base training. Makes sense to me
Theres only ever going to be guesses. Living very close to the base u learn patterns. Sat I said to my gf weird there boming how nice weather sat. Was. Before I get slammed. I’m not putting down the base it was an accident if they set it personally I love living close . Think. Last time it was blamed on campfire then later base came forward. Fact is woods needed it none got hurt no property damage couldn’t have turned out better. Nice job to those that fought it
Sucks that a bonfire caused it but, its a normal cycle for the health of forest
They already said they were doing controlled burns when it got it of control
Christopher Owens u really think they gonna own up to that …..
Al Brander touche
Christopher Owens This is what I was saying all along. They have been doing the controlled burns every weekend for several weekends now.
Christina Gowen it’s the healthiest thing for these types of forest.. if they didn’t catch fire they would choke out from undergrowth and never release seeds
yeah, sure it was a bonfire in the middle of the day during a controlled burn. It’s way more likely unsupervised guys lighting controlled fires and someone forgot about all the fires they lit.
Cya
Christina Gowen they weren’t doing them Saturday when it started. It was an erroneous report from a news agency that later corrected their statement.
Christopher Owens controlled burn down there was thursday
it wasn’t a control burn!!! It was where dirt bikes always ride so there is ur answer
Marni Peterson Kociban they were and anyone with text alerts got texts stating they were doing controlled burns hours before. Besides that, anyone driving the roads near a controlled burn will see trees smoldering days later that are unattended. Last year by the military base on 539 both sides of the road had multiple unattended brush fires days after controlled burning. They are not properly extinguishing before moving on to a different area.
Pat Romano
Pat Romano I heard on a NJ radio station this morning before 6am that it was a controlled burn that got out of control by the wind. Funny how that storyline disappeared like the “bonfire people”.
Michael Newnom shut up with ur dirt bikes shit. U probably started it…
Pat Romano there was no controlled burning Saturday
Fred LiSanti that’s a fact kid! Insider info
Michael Newnom u sure it wasn’t from your rim
Fred LiSanti now that was pretty funny…. if it happened in August of 2013!!!! Lmmfao
Christopher Owens The controlled burning was on Thursday and the fire was on Saturday. I saved the messages from the ocean county sheriff’s office. But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any embers from the fire laying around.
Literally the first fire department took full responsibility for it due to the wind during a controlled burn
Christopher Owens they weren’t doing them Saturday when it started. It was an erroneous report from a news agency that later corrected their statement.
hope they find out who started it
Deborah Pahlck they did lol the fireman
I heard it wasn’t a controlled burn. apparently it was not controlled either
Jo Peace uh oh
Katelyn Elizabeth omg imagine
First they said it was controlled burn?is somebody trying to get out of trouble??
Carol Smith it was NOT from a controlled burn. The news outlets that erroneously reported that corrected themselves almost immediately.
I heard a different story….smh
Well, isn’t that a convenient cover-up for the stupidity of a ‘controlled burn’ on a windy day…….
Chelsea Brody was KUST saying the same thing it was a controlled fire but let’s blame the bonfire
Chelsea Brody there were no scheduled control burns that day. There was supposed to be an enduro race that day. It’s highly likely activists did this to stop it from happening. They’ve been destroying our woods for a few years now trying to stop off road vehicles activity all together
Ashley Marie sorry, you might be right! Just upset … I was thinking about all the animals …..?
Ashley Marie yup. I see pictures being posted by locals who actually care about what goes on in the pines, and they’re not activists themselves. Some of these activists are dumb enough to record their own craziness too. So, I back your statement.
Alcohol caused this fire. The ground is paved with beer cans out there.
OMG here we go with the b******* of people being out in the woods for Wheeling riding quads hanging out camping they were controlled burning on a windy day and lost control of it everybody knows
Mark Hodges heroin is always available,,,gives them nothing to do but drugs…. and they wonder why…
Mark Hodges exactly…I live in pemberton and they had just been doing controlled burning the day before in areas of rt. 70…they say no…but I’m still thinking it was and it just didn’t stay controlled
Ocean County Scanner News in other news, Las Vegas now has Narcan in vending machines for people to buy
Dave Meyer I’m sure bayville will soon too!
Dave Meyer pay to live awesome lol how does one do that when there unconscious
My family is part of fire company and told me it was because of a controlled burn not a bonfire
indians used to burn down the forests to keep it under control. I think the people who want to build a pipeline did this. Look into Genie Energy
Lakewood Lightening
Yeah right it has nothing to do with them doing controlled burns in over 25mph winds?? They are just trying to cover up the fact that they were out doing burns when safety standards say they should not perform burns in up to 15-20mph winds. They should be fined.
Kyle Emerson took the words out of my mouth. This is some BS excuse to save someone’s job and not catch any heat. No pun intended
Adam Davison yes or they can’t get disaster funding if they weren’t following safety procedures ?
Justine Martin Mack
Melissa Gines Joe Zinn
Maybe it was a 2 stroke dirt bike that started it…..????
Street Raw that’s actually funny there was a race out at lake aswago told my wife the same thing spark fire makes sense lol
Bon Fire > #FakeNews ?
That’s total bs… I hit first hand info that Burlington county firemen lost control of a controlled fire. Fucking lying bastards
Dave Cline ??♂️
Ryan Flanegan 11,000 is insane 10x bigger
Dave Cline even when the firefighters start the fire during a controlled burn it’s still a non fire that caused it lmao