A vast wildfire that broke out Tuesday in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area along the New Jersey coast has already destroyed more than 1,500 acres, forcing 3,000 people to evacuate and causing the closure of 25 miles of the Garden State Parkway, the state’s main highway.
The blaze, dubbed the Jones Road Wildfire, was only 5 percent contained as of Tuesday evening. Authorities report that the flames threaten more than 1,300 homes and structures in the area.
“As winds diminish in the evening, smoke is expected to increase in the area,” Barnegat police warned via a Facebook post. “This could reduce driving visibility and create difficulties for those traveling by car.”
According to local media reports, Jersey Central Power & Light has shut down the power supply along Garden State Parkway for safety reasons. More than 25,000 people are currently without power in Ocean County. Police also warned residents to prepare for a prolonged outage, as power lines and transformers may have been damaged by the flames.
In the meantime, several temporary shelters have been set up to accommodate evacuees. No damage to people or structures is reported at this time, but fire watchers from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) said damage assessments are ongoing. The cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time.
