Wharton Forest Fire 90 Percent Contained

Monday, October 27 2008 @ 06:19 pm EDT

Contributed by: CBrining

From the Atlantic City Press Published: Monday, October 27, 2008

By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL Staff Writer, 609-272-7227

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HAMMONTON - The team fighting the six-day-old fire in Wharton State Forest has thinned to what one warden called "pretty much a skeleton crew," but it probably will be needed beyond Halloween. Firefighters had hoped for more than the half-inch of rain that fell Saturday, said Bert Plante, division fire warden for the state Forest Fire Service.

Still, the precipitation chased away plenty of smoke, and the fire is considered 90 percent "contained," which characterizes the likelihood it won't spread to new ground.

Crews will inspect the ground for days after the next storm to see whether they can close the book on the 1,950-acre blaze.

"Extinguishing is going to have to come from Mother Nature," Plante said.

Hammonton isn't expected to see rain again until scattered showers move in Saturday and Sunday, according to a Weather Channel forecast Sunday afternoon. The National Interagency Fire Center projects that this region's forest "fuel" will have dried by Tuesday. The fire began Tuesday afternoon near Waterford Township, Camden County. It has forced roads and schools to close, but it is not believed to have injured anyone or damaged private property. On Sunday, about 10 firefighters monitored the scene, down from more than 200 in the blaze's critical early hours, Plante said.

E-mail Eric Scott Campbell: ECampbell@pressofac.com