A New Jersey wildfire threatened to engulf 20 homes in Burlington County Monday night as crews fought to keep it contained.
The 40-acre blaze — dubbed “Big Rusty Wildfire” — ignited in the vicinity of Bancroft Lane and Cove Court in Hainesport shortly before 6 p.m. as firefighters battled the new inferno, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said.
An ABC 6 Action News chopper showed the edge of the fire approaching a cul-de-sac — with the flames directly behind shrubs lining the backyards of homes.
Forest fire crews were able to get Big Rusty Wildfire to 20% contained by 9 p.m. — moving it away from the 20 buildings, which were no longer threatened.
No homes were evacuated and there were zero reported injuries as smoke-eaters worked into the late night hours.
Several streets in the area were closed off by nightfall to allow fire crews easy access.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. The National Weather Service issued an elevated risk warning for the spread of wildfires in several local counties Monday.
Another fire ignited in Lakewood, Ocean County Monday, consuming 33 acres in the area of Pine Park and the Lakewood Country Club, the NJ Forest Fire Service said. It was 20% contained as of 7:30 p.m. and no buildings were threatened.
Wildfires have consumed large swathes of the Garden State and the neighboring Empire State over the past few weeks amid record-shattering dry weather and high winds.
Firefighters are still battling the Jennings Creek Wildfire — which crossed state lines from Passaic County, New Jersey into Orange County, New York — after it burned more than 5,300 acres of forest straddling the two states in 10 days. An 18-year-old parks employee was killed battling the flames.
The Jennings Creek fire, the largest of the recent blazes, was 88% contained as of Monday morning, according to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.
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