Tuckerton Forest Fire, 1982
Philadelphia Inquirer 24 Apr 1982
As firefighters contained three fires that have ravaged nearly 6,000 acres of the Pinelands in South Jersey since Thursday afternoon, state investigators began searching yesterday for clues in the blazes they believe were deliberately set." The timing and location of the fires make them of suspicious origin," said Jim Staples of the state Environmental Protection Department. " That's all we have to go on. No one saw anyone lighting matches."
Joseph Hughes, the principal forester for the office of the state fire warden, said units of arson experts trained in investigating forest fires began working yesterday afternoon on the fires in Burlington and Ocean Counties. He said that by tracing the trail of a fire, investigators sometimes find its starting point and that sometimes " they can even trace it back to a match they find on the ground." As of yesterday, Hughes said, the investigators had no clues or suspects, though. Teams of state and local firefighters were also working with tractors and plows yesterday to cut a line around the perimeter of the fires. Other firefighters poked through the forest dousing pockets that were still burning. Hughes said that he expected the fires would be declared under control later last night, but that an increase in winds could cause them to flare up. A spokesman for the state police in Tuckerton , however, said that they considered the fires to have been under control since late Thursday night.
The fires were still burning in three areas: on a 3,500-acre tract in and around Penn State Forest in Woodland Township, Burlington County; in a 1,300-acre area in Parkertown and a 1,000-acre area in West Creek, both in Ocean County. The Parkertown and West Creek fires are across Route 539 from each other and about 15 miles from the Penn State Forest blaze. Hughes said that the Burlington County fire was reported just before 2 p.m. Thursday and that the ones in Ocean County were discovered about a half hour later. Several hundred residents of West Creek and Parkertown who had been taken to nearby schools were sent home late Thursday night, local officials said. State and local officials reported that some buildings were slightly damaged but that there were no reports of structural damage to homes. Hughes also said that the structures damaged by the fire were not homes, as originally reported, but " outer structures - barns, sheds." Officials also said there were no reports of major injuries. " We had a fire chief who broke his arm and a couple of firemen overcome by smoke. Other than that, there were just a lot of shot nerves," said Gary Doan, the chief of the Parkerton volunteer fire company. Doan said that he had 30 men from volunteer companies working the fire Thursday night, but that yesterday about half of them had gone back to their jobs, leaving the fires to the state authorities who are paid to fight the blazes. Fires are " a way of life down here," Doan said. " It's like the tornadoes in Florida. You learn to live around it." Lt. Wayne Rupert, of the Ocean County Sheriff's Office in Toms River, said the county had at least one major fire each spring. " The conditions right now are pretty favorable for a bad fire," Rupert said. " It's fairly dry, and it's not really green yet."
Officials interviewed yesterday said a combination of factors resulted in the almost annual spring fires in the Pinelands. First, porous ground absorbs most of the moisture in the forest, leaving the remainder either to be dried by the wind or to be evaporated by the sun. The result is a " tinderbox" of dead, dry pine needles on the forest floor. In the spring, before the sap is flowing, the trees themselves are easily ignited. The officials said, though, that the factor most most dangerous to the Pinelands in the spring was the influx of campers and fishermen. Hughes said that last year there were 2,355 fires in New Jersey's forests and that 99 percent of them were caused by people, either deliberately or accidentally.
As firefighters contained three fires that have ravaged nearly 6,000 acres of the Pinelands in South Jersey since Thursday afternoon, state investigators began searching yesterday for clues in the blazes they believe were deliberately set." The timing and location of the fires make them of suspicious origin," said Jim Staples of the state Environmental Protection Department. " That's all we have to go on. No one saw anyone lighting matches."
Joseph Hughes, the principal forester for the office of the state fire warden, said units of arson experts trained in investigating forest fires began working yesterday afternoon on the fires in Burlington and Ocean Counties. He said that by tracing the trail of a fire, investigators sometimes find its starting point and that sometimes " they can even trace it back to a match they find on the ground." As of yesterday, Hughes said, the investigators had no clues or suspects, though. Teams of state and local firefighters were also working with tractors and plows yesterday to cut a line around the perimeter of the fires. Other firefighters poked through the forest dousing pockets that were still burning. Hughes said that he expected the fires would be declared under control later last night, but that an increase in winds could cause them to flare up. A spokesman for the state police in Tuckerton , however, said that they considered the fires to have been under control since late Thursday night.
The fires were still burning in three areas: on a 3,500-acre tract in and around Penn State Forest in Woodland Township, Burlington County; in a 1,300-acre area in Parkertown and a 1,000-acre area in West Creek, both in Ocean County. The Parkertown and West Creek fires are across Route 539 from each other and about 15 miles from the Penn State Forest blaze. Hughes said that the Burlington County fire was reported just before 2 p.m. Thursday and that the ones in Ocean County were discovered about a half hour later. Several hundred residents of West Creek and Parkertown who had been taken to nearby schools were sent home late Thursday night, local officials said. State and local officials reported that some buildings were slightly damaged but that there were no reports of structural damage to homes. Hughes also said that the structures damaged by the fire were not homes, as originally reported, but " outer structures - barns, sheds." Officials also said there were no reports of major injuries. " We had a fire chief who broke his arm and a couple of firemen overcome by smoke. Other than that, there were just a lot of shot nerves," said Gary Doan, the chief of the Parkerton volunteer fire company. Doan said that he had 30 men from volunteer companies working the fire Thursday night, but that yesterday about half of them had gone back to their jobs, leaving the fires to the state authorities who are paid to fight the blazes. Fires are " a way of life down here," Doan said. " It's like the tornadoes in Florida. You learn to live around it." Lt. Wayne Rupert, of the Ocean County Sheriff's Office in Toms River, said the county had at least one major fire each spring. " The conditions right now are pretty favorable for a bad fire," Rupert said. " It's fairly dry, and it's not really green yet."
Officials interviewed yesterday said a combination of factors resulted in the almost annual spring fires in the Pinelands. First, porous ground absorbs most of the moisture in the forest, leaving the remainder either to be dried by the wind or to be evaporated by the sun. The result is a " tinderbox" of dead, dry pine needles on the forest floor. In the spring, before the sap is flowing, the trees themselves are easily ignited. The officials said, though, that the factor most most dangerous to the Pinelands in the spring was the influx of campers and fishermen. Hughes said that last year there were 2,355 fires in New Jersey's forests and that 99 percent of them were caused by people, either deliberately or accidentally.
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