Firefighters Gain Upper Hand on Forest Fire
From the Atlantic City Press Published: Friday, October 24, 2008
GALLERY: Click here to view forest fire near Hammonton
By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL Staff Writer, 609-272-7227
HAMMONTON - Firefighters corraled the Wharton State Forest blaze on its third day, clearing enough smoke to readmit traffic through the park on Route 206 early Thursday afternoon. "It's looking pretty good," Forest Fire Service spokesman Michael Drake said.
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Crews have been planning their attack based in part on wind forecasts. Gusts have come consistently from the north, northeast and northwest since the fire started at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The fire has not spread beyond the 1,800 acres reported Wednesday afternoon, and it largely consists of smoldering turf, not visible flames. Still, by Thursday afternoon officials considered the fire only 50 percent contained, said Henry Hasselhan, another spokesman for the fire service.
Tenants of the eight briefly evacuated homes and businesses tried to return to their routines Thursday.
Blankets of smoke that settled in cold weather had made for poor visibility on Route 206. With the problem lessened and the road reopened, Nina Abrams had to prepare for customers. The owner of Nina's Cafe in the Dutchtown section has twice in three years closed because of forest fires.
Even after Abrams knew a fire was spreading Tuesday afternoon, "I didn't think it was as serious as it ended up being," she said. She knew differently when the power was shut off, and she promptly drove home to Medford Lakes in Burlington County.
Had she thought about the risk of fire when she took over the restaurant?
"No, it really never was much of a concern because it had been so long since a fire came through," Abrams replied.
Among the signs attached to the cafe's wall is one that reads, "Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed," but Abrams' mood wasn't that cynical Thursday.
Her restaurant was intact, if a little smoky. Hungry firefighters were keeping her cook busy. And unlike the 2,500-acre fire in August 2007, this one hadn't happened on a weekend, when she gets the "standing-room-only" crowds that sustain the cafe through lean weekdays.
"I guess tomorrow we'll be back to normal," she told two firefighters as she added up their bill.
Abrams' husband owns the string of houses next door. One is the home of Steven and Tammy Taylor, their two children and two dogs.
Misti Taylor, 17, was home alone Tuesday afternoon, and she called her mother and brother Steven, 14, when she learned about the fire. Tammy Taylor had to talk her way past a roadblock, but she got home and soon all six Taylors were staying in a motel in town.
Tammy Taylor said this fire was much worse than last August's.
"This year, you couldn't even see 2 feet in front of you" through the smoke, she recalled as she pulled three days of bills from the mailbox. "We were just worried about our lives. It was so much closer."
The Forest Fire Service had a second fire to deal with Thursday, one engulfing 25 to 30 acres near Winslow Township, division fire warden Bert Plante said.
E-mail Eric Scott Campbell: ECampbell@pressofac.com
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