The Jones Road Wildfire, which started last Tuesday in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, is on track to become the worst in state history. Fueled by gusty winds, low humidity, and dry undergrowth — conditions increasingly common in the region — the blaze has scorched more than 23 square miles, forced thousands to evacuate, and threatened nuclear waste at a power plant. As of Monday, firefighters had contained just 45 percent of the inferno.
It follows an unprecedented wildfire season in the Northeast, which saw the Hudson Valley and Catskills burn last fall, and a record number of blazes in the five boroughs of New York City. It’s a stark reminder that conflagrations are not confined to the West, said Aaron Weiskittel, director of the Center for Research on Sustainable Forests at the University of Maine. “If you’ve got fuel, there’s a potential for a fire,” he said. Though many people don’t consider it a common hazard, “there’s no reason that what has happened in the western U.S. can’t happen here.”
Despite the growing threat, communiti... Read more
