Fire Rescue News - Smoke from Bass River State Park forest fire visible for miles, as fire is 60 percent contained
BASS RIVER TOWNSHIP - Fire officials are hopeful that a forest fire in a cedar swamp will be contained today.
The fire spread to about 400 acres by 9:15 p.m. Monday night, state Division Fire Warden Bert Plante said, and spread to about 670 acres by Tuesday morning. Smoke from that fire is visible for miles.
Plante said the wildfire broke out in a swamp a couple miles north of.....Continue Reading
Dan Bridge Road in the Bass River State Forest on Monday afternoon.
"The problem with it being in a swamp, is we can't get to it," Plante said. "So what we have to do is try to stop it from spreading upland."
He said the fire was 60 percent contained Tuesday morning, up from 30 percent the night before.
Workers with Bass River State Park hope to open the park at noon today.
Before the sun set, the smoke could be seen from as far south as Northfield, in Atlantic County, about 20 miles away.
Plante said he suspected a lightning strike Sunday night caused the fire, but was not certain. Lightning triggered another fire, and while heavy rain fell on other parts of the region on Sunday, just 1/10 of an inch of rain fell here, Plante said.
The fire closed down parts of Stage Road between the Garden State Parkway and County Route 679, Plante said, as well as Greenbush Road between Route 9 and Stage Road. It also closed the 28,000-acre Bass River State Forest.
Visitors could be seen exiting the park shortly before 4 p.m. and a park employee said that people were being asked to leave.
The park has 176 tent and trailer camping sites and several larger group campsites, according to a state Department of Environmental Protection website.
While the fire was close to the Garden State Parkway, it did not close the roadway. The relatively light winds meant the smoke was rising, rather than obscuring vision.
"You can certainly smell it and see it on the Parkway, but it's not impacting visibility," Plante said.
Plante said the fire service had about 100 firefighters, 17 engines, three helicopters, two bulldozers and other equipment fighting the fire. Three or four other municipal departments were also providing water.
The Bass River State Forest was evacuated after the fire north of Dan Bridge Road was reported, Plante said.
The state forest stretches across Ocean and Burlington counties, and is roughly six miles west of Tuckerton, and 25 miles away from Atlantic City.
A second, smaller fire was later reported about a mile east of the initial blaze, Plante said.
Contact Robert Spahr: 609-272-7283 RSpahr@pressofac.com
Contact Derek Harper: 609-272-7046 DHarper@pressofac.com
Check here for updates on this developing story.
