Weather key in containing N.J. wildfire

Firefighters were keeping an anxious eye on the weather Wednesday as they fought to contain a massive wildfire that has consumed more than 12,000 acres, almost 20 square miles, of brush and pine forest in southern New Jersey.

Dry conditions and strong winds helped fan the blaze, which began Tuesday afternoon on a military aerial bombing range about 25 miles north of Atlantic City.

No deaths or injuries have been attributed to the fire, but it has forced the evacuation of about 2,500 homes in the area along the border between Ocean and Burlington counties.

Firefighting operations were scaled back overnight, with about 100 firefighters from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service as well as 200 emergency responders from Ocean, Burlington and Atlantic counties on the job, said Willie Cirone, deputy public information officer for the forest fire service.

Cirone said officials were considering conducting a burnout operation along the Garden State Parkway during the overnight hours to try to get the eastern side of the fire contained.

Seven airplanes and helicopters were used to drop water on the blaze before nightfall, when aerial operations were suspended. Flight operations were scheduled to resume at 6 a.m., Cirone said, and daylight would give commanders the chance to reevaluate the situation.

Cirone said the fire had the potential to burn as much as 25,000 acres.

"We're watching the weather very closely for tomorrow," Cirone said late Tuesday night. "Hopefully, it's going to work with us."

The forecast for Wednesday called for winds of up to 20 mph with a chance of showers or thunderstorms in the afternoon.

At least six homes in a mobile home park in Barnegat Township were damaged.

Those evacuated included residents of several retirement communities, patients from a nursing home and students from an outdoor survival school.

Gerry Ulias, 64, a resident of the age-restricted Ocean Breeze development in Stafford Township, said he left quickly.

"I just grabbed my money, my credit cards and any important papers," in addition to his 3-year-old cat Tiki, Ulias told the Asbury Park Press of Neptune after arriving at a shelter set up at Southern Regional High School.

Shawn Crull, 33, had traveled from his home in Denver to Waretown for the weeklong survival school that started Monday.

"We saw a lot of smoke covering up the sun," he told the newspaper. The order to evacuate quickly followed.

While many fled, others in the area stayed put, confident that firefighters would contain the blaze.

"They know what they're doing," said Linda Westover, a longtime Stafford Township resident.

Routes 539 and 72 were closed by the fire, which started about 2:15 p.m. on the Warren Grove Gunnery Range, a 9,400-acre expanse of sand and scrub pine used for aerial bombing practice by Air National Guard units.

Lt. Col. James Garcia, a spokesman for the New Jersey Air National Guard, said it was believed a flare dropped from one its F-16s may have started the blaze.

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Associated Press writer Matthew Verrinder in Trenton contributed to this report.