MANCHESTER – A fast-moving wildfire that spread to 2,500 acres as of early Wednesday morning has forced authorities to issue a mandatory evacuation order for about 170 homes and other structures in Manchester and Lakehurst, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
As of the latest reporting, about 75 structures were threatened, the state Forest Fire Service said.
The Ocean County Sheriff’s Office said in an email alert and text message at 10:57 p.m. Tuesday that “all residents between Division Street and Myrtle (Street in Lakehurst) are to evacuate immediately due to a brush fire.”
Additionally, the Manchester Office of Emergency Management ordered mandatory evacuations along Beckerville Road, Horicon Avenue and Horicon Drive in the Whiting section of the township due to the forest fire, the township said in a statement.
Evacuees were being instructed to report to Manchester Township High School.
The Forest Fire Service and the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Fire Department were operating Tuesday night in unified command as their firefighters battled the blaze — 10% contained early Wednesday — which they’re calling the “Jimmy’s Waterhole Fire.” The inferno is burning on U.S. military, state and private property along Route 539 and Horicon Avenue in Manchester, the state agency said.
At the Route 70 and Union Avenue traffic circle in Lakehurst, ash was raining down and conditions were smoky. From Lake Horicon, the roar of the fire could be heard across the water. As many as two dozen people had gathered in small groups on the banks of the lake to watch and photograph the scene.
A Berkeley man who is building a house on Beckerville Road in Manchester said that the fire initially appeared to be under control when he left the construction site on Tuesday evening.
“It looked like it was calming down, and then, so, I left and … I have a bunch of equipment out there and we figured it was OK,” said the man, who asked not to be identified.
As he drove away he noticed that emergency personnel had started to block off roads and that the situation was much more serious than he had surmised.
As midnight neared, he was keeping his eyes on a live video stream from the security cameras mounted at the property.
“They’re still on, so we know that it didn’t really catch the house at all at (this) point,” he said. “I’m just in amazement that this is happening. … And just keeping our fingers crossed and praying.”
The Forest Fire Service said that its crews had begun a backfiring operation to aid in the containment — meaning that they were starting controlled burns in nearby areas in an effort to stop the spread of the wildfire. Local volunteer fire departments in Ocean County had been deployed to safeguard the threatened structures.
Route 539 was closed from Route 70 to Long Swamp Road. Route 70 was closed from Lakehurst Circle to Beckerville West Road. Horicon Avenue was completely closed. Beckerville East Road and Beckerville West Road have also been shut down.
April is the peak of the wildfire season in New Jersey, with 99% of New Jersey wildfires caused by people. Nine out of 10 homes destroyed in wildfires are the result of embers falling on the structures, all according to the Forest Fire Service.
Authorities have directed the public to avoid the area.
Just after 9 p.m. Tuesday, police in neighboring Berkeley issued an email advisory to its residents that the fire posed no current risk to its jurisdiction.
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