19-Year-Old Charged in Connection to Massive New Jersey Wildfire That Burned 15,000 Acres
A 19-year-old from Ocean Township, New Jersey, has been charged in connection with a massive wildfire that scorched approximately 15,000 acres, forced thousands of evacuations, and destroyed a commercial building.
Joseph Kling was arrested and charged with aggravated arson and arson, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday. The wildfire—dubbed the Jones Road Wildfire—ignited Tuesday in Waretown and rapidly spread across southern Ocean County.
Prosecutors allege Kling set wooden pallets on fire and left the scene without ensuring the flames were fully extinguished. The fire was later determined to have started from an improperly extinguished bonfire, according to a news release.
As of Thursday morning, the blaze was about 50% contained. No fatalities or damage to residential homes have been reported.
The fire was first spotted just before 10 a.m. Tuesday by the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower, which observed a smoke plume in the area of Jones Road and Bryant Road. Emergency responders soon discovered a spreading wildfire within the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust’s Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area.
Kling is currently being held at the Ocean County Jail, awaiting a detention hearing.
According to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, the wildfire has affected areas in both Ocean and Lacey Townships. Eight structures have been threatened so far, with one commercial building confirmed destroyed. Roughly 5,000 residents were evacuated during the peak of the blaze, though evacuation orders have since been lifted.
On Wednesday, acting New Jersey Governor Tahesha Way declared a state of emergency in response to the fire. Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette noted that the blaze could become the state’s largest wildfire in two decades.
“Thanks to the incredible, heroic work of the good men and women of our New Jersey Forest Fire Service, folks’ homes and lives have been saved, and we’ve truly averted a major disaster,” LaTourette said Wednesday. “Now, this wildfire is not under full and complete control. We still have a lot of work to do to achieve complete containment.”
