New Jersey wildfire could become state’s largest in about 20 years

April 23 — A fast-growing wildfire was burning in New Jersey’s Pinelands near its Atlantic Ocean beach towns on Wednesday and threatened to become the largest in the state in about 20 years, officials said on Wednesday.

The Jones Road Wildfire had spread to 12,500 acres (50.6 sq km) on Wednesday afternoon and was 40% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said in a press conference.

It was no longer threatening populated areas but a “soaking rainfall” is needed to stop the fire, officials said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

The blaze could become the largest in New Jersey in about 20 years, said Shawn LaTourette, the state’s commissioner of environmental protection, at a press conference. A fire in May 2007 in the same area consumed 17,000 acres.

Embers from the fire sparked several small blazes near a decommissioned Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Waretown, according to state officials. The plant, owned by Holtec International, shut down in 2018.

Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way declared a state of emergency beginning at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. She was filling in for Governor Phil Murphy, who was on an overseas trip.

So far in 2025, New Jersey has experienced nearly twice as many wildfires as in the same period last year, with 662 wildfires burning over 16,500 acres. That compares with about 310 wildfires burning 315 acres in the first four months of 2024, Bill Donnelly, the chief of the forest fire service, said at the briefing.