Rough Terrain Adds To Crews' Challenges Fighting Deadly NJ Wildfire
WEST MILFORD, NJ — Forest Fire Service crews continue battling a wildfire in West Milford and across the New York State line that has consumed thousands of acres, and resulted in a young firefighter's death.
The Jennings Creek Wildfire has been burning since Saturday, and is still threatening two homes in West Milford along with eight buildings in Long Pond Ironworks Historic District. An 18-year-old volunteer firefighter died in New York on Saturday after being crushed by a falling tree.
Officials provided some clarity on the fire's size: The fire has burned 2,283 acres in New Jersey and about 2,700 acres in New York . It is 30 percent contained across both states.
Forest Fire Service crews were "aggressively patrolling the fire perimeter and addressing areas of concern" on Wednesday, after dealing with strong winds on Tuesday that made their efforts more difficult. The fire did not grow overnight.
Crews in New Jersey are also hampered by the rugged and remote location of the fire, as NJ Forest Fire Service Chief Greg McLaughlin noted during a Wednesday press conference. Bulldozers and plows cannot get across the steep terrain easily, and firefighters have to do a lot of fireline control by hand.
"It's very remote, and so there's not a lot of vehicle access and not a lot of good fire breaks, such as roads and streams, that we would typically have in place or be able to improve quickly," he said.
New York State Police said they were investigating the death of Dariel Vasquez, the state parks employee who died when a tree fell on him Saturday afternoon as he battled a major brush fire.
Jeremy Oldroyd, a forest ranger with New York state, said that Vasquez died "assisting with fire line construction " in Sterling Forest.
"Wildland firefighting is a very dangerous profession, and we try to take as many precautions as we can mitigate some of the hazards that are out there in the wildland fire environment. But occasionally accidents do happen," he told the Associated Press .
The fire's cause is still under investigation. New Jersey also declared a drought warning on Wednesday as reservoir levels have been dropping, and residents are urged to conserve water.
Residents in West Milford and nearby communities can expect to see/smell smoke while firefighters continue their operations.
West Milford residents can check the following Facebook pages for information about road closures and related community updates about the Jennings Creek wildfire: Mayor Michele Dale , the West Milford Office of Emergency Management , the West Milford Fire Department , West Milford Police , and the New Jersey Forest Fire Service .
