Forest fire still raging in Burlington County
A three-mile stretch of Route 70 was shut down Saturday afternoon and firefighting aircraft were called into service as firefighters battled fierce winds to control a huge blaze that had consumed some 200 acres near a housing development in Burlington County.
A three-mile stretch of Route 70 was shut down Saturday afternoon and firefighting aircraft were called into service as firefighters battled fierce winds to control a huge blaze that had consumed some 200 acres near a housing development in Burlington County.
The fire, which broke out in the Pinelands around 1 p.m. between the Country Lakes Development and Brendan Byrne State Forest, was still out of control by late afternoon, said Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, which was leading the effort to contain the blaze.
"We're experiencing 30 and 40 mile-per-hour wind gusts," said Hajna.
Three miles of Route 70 just west of the border between Burlington and Ocean Counties were closed to traffic. No mandatory evacuations had been ordered by late afternoon, though the fire continued to burn out of control, Hanja said.
"The New Jersey State Forest Fire Service is being supported by maybe 10 or 15 volunteer fire companies," said Hajna, of the state Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the firefighting forestry division.
The forest fire appeared to be burning to the east of the densely wooded Country Lakes housing development, which is along Route 70. But because winds were blowing east, Hajna said, houses to the west did not appear immediately threatened.
A Jet Ranger observation helicopter joined four water-dousing aircraft in the firefighting effort: two air tractors, a biplane and a helicopter that drops water.
Nearby resident Susan Scull, who lives on a dirt road off of Route 70, about a mile from the fire, on Mt. Misery Road, said her nephew could see signs of the encroaching blaze from their home, which like many houses in the area, is tucked into the thick woods.
"He says he can smell smoke and he can see smoke coming through the woods," said Scull, who was on her way home around 3:30 p.m. after her work shift at a supermarket, when she was interviewed at Buy-Rite Country Lakes Liquors nearby on Lakehurst Road in Browns Mills.
"It's so windy here, you know, we're supposed to get 60-mile an hour winds," Scull said, anxious to get home and gauge the situation with her own eyes. "I don't know how fast it's going to travel."
Contact Maria Panaritis at 215-854-2431 or mpanaritis@phillynews.com.