From the Atlantic City Press Published: Thursday, October 30, 2008

By BEN LEACH Staff Writer, 609-272-7261

Even though the wildfire that tore through Wharton State Forest last week burned almost 2,000 acres, many people in the pinelands still believe in using fire as a management tool. The evidence that the forest is capable of handling a fire is certainly compelling. Pine cones won't open until they reach a certain temperature, and pygmy pines won't grow above 10 feet tall. These adaptations are a direct result of the regularity of fires in the pinelands.

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From the Atlantic City Press Published: Thursday, October 30, 2008












By EMILY PREVITI Staff Writer, 609-272-7221

ABSECON - A house was gutted early Wednesday morning by a fire that officials and neighbors say spread quickly. The blaze started while a 6-month-old baby and four adults were sleeping at a home in the 800 block of Marlborough Avenue, police said.



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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

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From the Atlantic City Press Published: Saturday, October 25, 2008

By MICHELLE LEE Staff Writer, 609-272-7256



Wal-Mart parking lot in Hammonton as the smoke from the forest fire blocks out the sun.

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HAMMONTON - Friday morning began with an unusual blackout for Jim Austin and many other Hamm-onton residents. Austin, owner of the Blueberry Factory on Bellevue Avenue, said when he woke at 7 a.m., the smoke from the smoldering, four-day-old fire in Wharton State Forest was drifting over the township. The clouds were so thick he couldn't see the house across the street, and he could smell the burning scent inside the house and garage.

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From the Atlantic City Press Published: Friday, October 24, 2008



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

EGG HARBOR CITY - A downtown fire early Thursday morning left several apartment residents homeless, the shell-shocked and uninsured owner of a destroyed clothing shop out at least $60,000 and a 24-year-old man in jail, charged with intentionally setting the blaze. Donald J. Lentz, of Buena Vista Township, is being held at the Atlantic County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. He faces charges of aggravated arson and terroristic threats.

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From the Atlantic City Press Published: Friday, October 24, 2008












GALLERY: Click here to view forest fire near Hammonton

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

HAMMONTON - Firefighters corraled the Wharton State Forest blaze on its third day, clearing enough smoke to readmit traffic through the park on Route 206 early Thursday afternoon. "It's looking pretty good," Forest Fire Service spokesman Michael Drake said.

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