Firefighters contain about half of Pine Barrens blaze

South Jersey firefighters battling a 1,900-acre blaze in the Pine Barrens had about half the inferno contained yesterday, officials said.

A 10-mile stretch of Route 206, closed because of heavy smoke, reopened shortly after noon yesterday.

The blaze, which began Tuesday afternoon, is being investigated as suspicious.

About 50 firefighters remained at the scene.

Gusty winds, which have helped spread the blaze, are expected to die down and change direction, said James Petrini, assistant division fire warden for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

"It may push the major amount of smoke towards Philadelphia, so you may smell it there," he said, adding that people 20 miles away in Vineland, N.J., had reported catching an acrid whiff.

A handful of residents who evacuated Tuesday returned to their houses Wednesday night.

"There's no threat to their homes," Petrini said.

Despite the size of the blaze, only two minor injuries had been reported. On Tuesday, a police officer was struck by a vehicle as he directed traffic, and a firefighter was hospitalized with chest pains.

Heavy rains predicted for tomorrow could help bring the rest of the fire under control, officials said.