Eye to the Sky

The wildfire in South Jersey continue to grow as a combination of low humidity and high winds have caused the fires to spread to more than 13,000 acres. A front is expected to move through the area this afternoon and tonight bringing rain, thunderstorms, and cooler temperatures, which will aid the firefighters gain a handle on the fires.

The fires started when an F-16 on a training mission dropped a flare which sparked the inferno. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate the area.

Firefighters were keeping an anxious eye on the weather Wednesday as they fought to contain a massive wildfire that has consumed about 13,500 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.

The fire was not likely to double, state Forest Fire Service chief Maris Gabliks said.

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.

There have been some homes that were damaged or destroyed by the fire. The Star Ledger blog also has comments by folks angry at the National Guard for causing this. Photos and video from the scene can be found here.

UPDATE:
The smoke from the fires has caused the state police to shut down a stretch of the Garden State Parkway. If you were planning to head to Atlantic City from New York City, today isn't a good day to try your luck.

The Garden State Parkway is closed between exits 58 and 63 as fire continues to rage through the Pine Barrens.

The highway and nearby routes 72 and 539 have been closed because of heavy smoke, officials said at a noon press briefing.

The fire has burned 13,500 acres and remains only about 30 percent contained, state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson said.

"We are not out of the woods," Jackson said. "We do not have the upper hand. We have done what we need to do, and we need to hope for some luck and keep working hard."

The fire has damaged 1,300 homes, New Jersey State Police Lt. Commander Drew Lieb said. Five of those homes have been destroyed.

1,300 homes damaged with five destroyed? Wow. Thousands of folks are still unable to return home because the fires aren't contained, though the expected rainstorms this afternoon and tonight will help firefighters get a handle on the situation. That is, unless the storms cause more wildfires due to lightning strikes in a region that is red flagged because of the dry conditions.

UPDATE:
Firefighters are hoping that the rain will help get a handle on the fire, though as the storm front came through, the high winds helped fan the flames - some reached 150 feet into the air.

A cheer went up outside the emergency command post in Ocean County shortly before 7 this evening when rain began to fall on the massive forest fire that has consumed 21 square miles of South Jersey pinelands.

Fire officials hope the rain, which fell heavy for brief periods this evening, will help quell the blaze that has caused thousands of people to flee their homes.

But it is unclear if the rain will be enough to stop the fire that has already burned through 13,500 acres of dry pine forests and destroyed several homes.

"Our main goal is to keep it west of the Parkway. That's what our whole strategy is," Maris Gabliks, chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said at a briefing late this afternoon.

The earlier report of 1,300 homes destroyed was off by more than a little bit. Only 13 homes have been damaged and 5 were destroyed.