New Jersey Wildfire Forces Evacuation Of 3,000 Residents—Leaves 25,000 Homes Without Power
A fast-moving wildfire in New Jersey's Ocean County forced around 3,000 residents to evacuate and shut down a section of one of the busiest highways in the state on Tuesday night.
Smoke rises from a wildfire early Wednesday, near Barnegat Township, New Jersey.
In its most recent update about the size of the wildfire, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said the fast-moving blaze has burned around 8,500 acres, more than doubling in size in two hours, of which only 10% has been contained.
The fire, which is burning through New Jersey's Ocean & Lacey Townships, threatened 1,320 structures and forced the closure of a section of the Garden State Parkway, 'between Barnegat Road and Lacey Road,' the update noted.
The fire department said the cause of the blaze was still under investigation.
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According to the tracker PowerOutage.US, more than 25,476 homes and businesses were without power early Wednesday. Jersey Central Power and Light Company said the power cuts were done for safety reasons following a request from the Jersey Forest Fire Service and the wildfire's command post. The utilities company said: 'All restoration timing will be determined by the safety of firefighters, our crews and the public.' The statement then added: 'We do not anticipate restoring power tonight.'
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