New Jersey forest fire prompts thousands of evacuations and closes a major highway

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BARNEGAT TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire burning in New Jersey on Tuesday forced thousands of people to evacuate and closed a stretch of a major highway.

The Garden State Parkway, one of New Jersey’s busiest highways, was closed between Barnegat and Lacey townships, according to the New Jersey Fire Service.

More than 1,300 structures were threatened and about 3,000 residents were evacuated, the fire service said. Shelters were open at two high schools, according to the Barnegat Police Department.

The Jersey Central Power and Light Company cut power to about 25,000 customers at the request of the Forest Fire Service and the wildfire’s command post Tuesday evening, including thousands in Barnegat Township. The company said on X that it doesn’t expect to restore the power before Wednesday.

“This is for the safety of crews battling the fire,” the company said.

The fire in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area burned more than 13.2 square miles (34.2 square kilometers) of land, fire officials said.

The blaze, burning in Ocean and Lacey Townships in Ocean County, was only about 10% contained Tuesday night, the New Jersey Fire Service said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Debi Schaffer was caught in gridlocked traffic after evacuating with her two dogs while her husband agreed to stay with their 22 chickens, The Press of Atlantic City reported.

“I wanted to take them in the car with me; can you imagine 22 chickens in a car?” she told the newspaper.

Around her Waretown house it was “like a war zone,” she said, describing smoke, sirens and the buzz of helicopters.

The site of the fire is near an alpaca farm. The farm said in a Facebook post that the property wasn’t threatened and all of the animals were safe.

The blaze is the second major forest fire in the region in less than a week.