A wildfire that has engulfed roughly 450 acres of Wharton State Forest in Burlington County, N.J., continued to rage Friday evening and was 0% contained, according to the latest update from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
The blaze, dubbed the Tea Time Hill Wildfire, has led to the evacuation of the Batona Campground and closure of several trails and roads in the area, reported NBC Philadelphia.
According to the NJFFS, two structures are threatened by the fire, including a hunting club and a residential building.
“The fire is burning in a very rugged area,” Section Fire Warden Thomas Gerber said during a news conference Friday. “A lot of it is inaccessible to motorized vehicles or fire equipment. Some of the area has not seen fire since 1954, so it’s very, very dense pine forest.”
Officials are urging the public to avoid the area and refrain from flying drones near the fire.
The exact cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
“Crews are utilizing a backfire operation to burn fuel ahead of the main body of fire which will help aid containment efforts,” officials said in the early afternoon.
The next update on the wildfire is expected to come at around 8:30 p.m.
Last year, over 18,000 acres were burned in New Jersey forests. The NJFFS said they responded to more major fires in 2023 than they had in the 20 years prior.
