Wildfire in Little Egg Harbor contained at 418 acres; Route 539 open

Ken Serrano, Jenna Calderón and Erik Larsen, Asbury Park Press
·4 min read

LITTLE EGG HARBOR− A wildfire that spread to 418 acres in nearly 40 mph wind gusts and had threatened 16 homes was 100% contained Tuesday night, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

The forest fire, named the Governor's Branch Wildfire, started in a remote area of the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area off Route 539, according to the forest fire service.

Smoke rises above the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management area off Route 539 in Little Egg Harbor Tuesday afternoon, March 7, 2023.
Smoke rises above the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management area off Route 539 in Little Egg Harbor Tuesday afternoon, March 7, 2023.

Investigators from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office are among the authorities probing its cause, although officials from the forest fire service said that was normal protocol and that the cause of the fire had not been determined Tuesday night.

Greg McLaughlin, chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, said that due to the high winds on Tuesday his agency had suspended the controlled burns in the Pinelands that had been visible to area residents over the past few days.

“We called all of that off today, so there was no prescribed burning going on today,” McLaughlin said during a news conference late Tuesday night at the nearby Warren Grove Gunnery Range where the forest fire service had set up their command post.

The first sign of the wildfire was smoke observed from the Cedar Bridge fire tower in neighboring Barnegat at 11:45 a.m., McLaughlin said.

Fire Service crews arrived at the location just after 12 p.m. and discovered “a large, rapidly spreading wildfire” that was being pushed by 32 to 35 mph wind gusts from the northwest, he said.

Section Forest Fire Warden John Earlin Jr. said the blaze was in a remote area, south of Munion Field Road.

“We used indirect tactics to contain the fire, by doing a burnout operation,” Earlin explained.

Forest Fire Service crews initiated a backfiring operation to contain the blaze, meaning they intentionally burned areas to stop the spread. In doing so, the firefighters were able to keep the fire contained to north of Log Swamp Road and west of Route 539, the fire warden said.

There were no injuries and no evacuations, McLaughlin said.

Forest Fire Service staff remained at the scene overnight to manage the containment lines and monitor the fire. Although the smell of wood burning hung in the air in parts of southern Ocean County on Tuesday night, the smoky conditions of earlier in the day appeared to have largely abated by sunset.

Earlier, local volunteer fire companies from Ocean, Burlington and Atlantic counties provided protection to the houses on South Shore Drive in Little Egg Harbor, which would have been threatened if firefighters had been unable to fully contain the conflagration on Tuesday.

Little Egg Harbor Township Administrator Rodney Haines said that its local fire companies had provided "structural support, just in case" the fire had spread endangered those residences off Route 539. South Shore Drive is a short, rural stretch of road in a rural section of the township.

In neighboring Stafford, Mayor Gregory E. Myhre said township officials had been "keeping an eye on the situation" Tuesday, as the fire remained southeast of its Warren Grove section.

New Jersey State Forest Service trucks drive west along Route 539 near Forge Road heading towards a forest fire in Little Egg Harbor Tuesday afternoon, March 7, 2023.
New Jersey State Forest Service trucks drive west along Route 539 near Forge Road heading towards a forest fire in Little Egg Harbor Tuesday afternoon, March 7, 2023.

Route 539, which had been closed for much of the day, had reopened by Tuesday evening.

The Forest Fire Service first issued its first alert about the wind-whipped Warren Grove wildfire at 12:50 p.m.

According to Eric Hoeflich, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Mount Holly, winds Tuesday were gusting at a peak of around 38 mph around the Atlantic City Airport, the nearest forecast point to Little Egg Harbor.

“Anything with a sustained wind at around 20 mph or higher…or gusts over 25-30 mph consistently…that’s generally concerning for fire weather purposes,” he said.

The strong winds from the northwest had continued for the rest of Tuesday afternoon but were expected to diminish to 20 to 25 mph this morning.

Tankers stand by along Route 539 as smoke rises above the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management area in Little Egg Harbor Tuesday afternoon, March 7, 2023.
Tankers stand by along Route 539 as smoke rises above the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management area in Little Egg Harbor Tuesday afternoon, March 7, 2023.

Another factor that contributed to fires are humidity levels, he said. The humidity is around 27 percent in the area as of 2 p.m.

“Anything…under 30 percent is concerning for fire weather purposes, usually,” said Hoeflich.

According to the NJ Fire Danger Dashboard, both Ocean and Monmouth Counties had been under "very high" ratings for fires as of Tuesday afternoon.

This is a developing story. Check back with app.com for more on the Little Egg Harbor wildfire

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ wildfire 100% contained in Pine Barrens; Route 539 reopens