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
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, October 23 2008 @ 06:03 am EDT
Contributed by: CBrining
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The Elwood Fire Company was called to covered Station 10 in Egg Harbor City on Oct 23rd at 1:03am. The fire was next door to The Venice Grill at 147 Philadelphia Ave. The Fire destroyed the apartments above the store and damaged the buildings next door as well as the Bar & Grill below. Engine 16-3 stood by with a full crew at Station 10 until released at 3:15am.
LATEST NEWS: Fire Damages Mixed-Use Building in Egg Harbor City
By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL, Staff Writer, 609-272-7227
EGG HARBOR CITY – An early-morning fire spread through three buildings on the 100 block of Philadelphia Avenue downtown, severely damaging one of them.
That building holds two upstairs apartments, a clothing shop and a vacant storefront, Fire Chief Russ Fenton said. The American Red Cross is helping the apartments’ residents relocate.
The bar Venice Grill and the grocery La Placita stand on either side. It is not known whether the fire, which lasted from about midnight to 4:30 a.m., will disrupt their business.
The glow of fire illuminates smoke clouds at Atsion Lake in Shamong Township, N.J. on Tuesday. The forest fire burned through parts of three southern New Jersey counties Tuesday, engulfing hundreds of acres of forest and forcing the closure of Route 206. (AP Photo/Curt Hudson)
Curt Hudson
10:30 a.m. Update - HAMMONTON — A fire in Wharton State Forest continued to spread Wednesday morning as Route 206 remained closed from Atsion Lake to the White Horse Pike and a handful of homes and businesses remained evacuated.
“Most of it is low ground, swampy, organic. It’ll tend to burn like a charcoal briquette,” said Bert Plante, division fire warden for the state Forest Fire Service, about 10 a.m.
The fire is growing beyond 1,000 acres, the approximate size of many forest fires in recent years, Plante said. Recently burned forest land is less at risk of damage in this blaze, the warden added.
Officials have not determined precisely where and why the fire began. Fire service helicopters are attempting to map the spread of the flames.
