Fire Rescue News - Risk of forest fires remains "very high" in central and southern New Jersey

 state's Department of Environmental Protection. Northern New Jersey's risk is "moderate," while the central portions of the state are under a "high" fire risk.

A lightning bolt or poorly discarded cigarette - or even parking your car on the side of the road with the engine running - could spark a forest fire under these conditions, said Bert Plante, a division warden in the state Forest Fire Service.

"The biggest single problem is the wind, and since things are already incredibly dry, if something starts, it's going up in a hurry," Plante said.

Red flag conditions usually occur in spring and fall. But this has been a year of unusual weather, so Rob Gill was keeping his binoculars handy Wednesday, watching for smoke. Gill, a control technician with the state's Forest Fire Service, spent the day perched in the paint-chipped McKeetown Fire Tower on Route 322 in the McKee City section of Egg Harbor Township.

"On days like this, you check the trees more often for smoke," Gill said.

Gill and his colleagues use triangulation to locate fires. When Gill sees smoke, he measures the angle of the smoke and sights his line - and then officials in two nearby towers do the same, using the three measurements to pinpoint a location.

Some of the maps Gill uses were made before the Atlantic City Expressway was built - about 45 years ago.

"Since the older maps didn't show as many roads, the landscape is more detailed," he said. "We don't care where the road is. We want to know about the land."

Gill and other fire officials are most worried about the duff on the forest floor - made of dry leaves, decomposing branches and other organic material that burns easily. It's more difficult to catch those fires right away. They heat up faster.

Concern over the possibility of a quick-spreading fire caused the state's Department of Environmental Protection to issue a stage two campfire restriction - meaning campers can cook their food, or roast marshmallows, only in fireplaces, elevated charcoal grills or stoves.

The restriction was unwelcome news for Gary Simons, 56, who traveled from Morris County to visit Belleplain State Forest in Cape May County with his wife, Bernadette. Before coming to the campground, Simons loaded his Chevrolet S10 pickup truck with firewood he cut himself.

"We were going to use it to build a campfire, which is just a part of camping," Simons said.

As of Wednesday, he was debating whether to load the firewood back into his truck so it doesn't go to waste, or leave it there for another camper to find.

While the wind should diminish today, the brush fire concerns linger. The National Weather Service expects highs in the upper 70s and 20 mph winds today.

There's a chance for rain this weekend. But the Pine Barrens' sandy soil does a poor job of retaining moisture and the region has gone through a long stretch without rain.

"We use the Keetch-Byram Drought Index to measure the dryness in the forest, and the index runs from zero to 800, and 800 is baked," Plante said. "We measured southern New Jersey at 670 or 680."

Staff writer Ben Leach contributed to this report.

Contact Dan Good:  609-272-7203  DGood@pressofac.com