Forest wildfire in Little Egg Harbor Township fully contained
LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) -- Firefighters announced the wildfire is fully contained. It burned about 418 acres and took firefighters about seven hours to put out.
The Governor's Branch Wildfire could be seen from miles away in Little Egg Harbor Township.
Up close flames burned through the woods of the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area right off Route 539.
Chopper 3 was over the scene as firefighters worked to contain the flames and stop them from rapidly spreading in the remote area. Firefighters say they say the heavy winds between 32-35 mph didn't help their operations.
They had to be on the lookout for fire spotting.
"Which is burning embers from pine bark, needles, pine cones that can spread fire sometimes up to a mile in advance," chief NJ Forest Fire Service Greg McLaughlin said.
They say those burning embers could lead to smaller fires and force firefighters to pull resources from the main wildfire. They also took extra measures to help 16 structures that were threatened by the fire.
Resources from Ocean, Burlington, and Atlantic County to help provide additional help.
"We had structure protection in place to protect those and no property damage no evacuations," McLaughlin said.
Fire officials say this is a historically fire-prone area. They say a prescribed burn in the past helped them.
"This area of woods was burned last in 2018 which helped assist us and control that fire from spreading," one fire official said.
Firefighters say they are still working on a cause.
Firefighters also want to remind people that wildfire season is right around the corner even though the temperatures may still be cold.
