By Raven Santana, NJ Spotlight News Correspondent | April 24, 2025 |
As of Thursday afternoon, the Jones Road Wildfire in Ocean County was 50% contained, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
Officials announced that a 19-year-old man was arrested on arson charges related to the massive wildfire. Prosecutors say Joseph Kling of Waretown allegedly started a bonfire with wooden pallets in the Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area but failed to fully extinguish the bonfire before he left. Kling is being held at the Ocean County Jail pending a hearing.
The fire was fueled by drought, blustery winds and relatively low humidity. No homes were damaged and officials have not reported any injuries. One business in Lacey Township that backs up to the woods was destroyed along with several vehicles.
Robert Nosti, the president and co-owner of Liberty Door & Awning, says he’s still coming to terms with the damage from the Jones Road fire, which destroyed his family-run business. “The next morning, it’s surreal, complete devastation; your whole life flashes in front of you,” Nosti said.
Hot spots remained visible Thursday in the charred forest.
David Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist, says with the winds picking up, the air quality is “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
“There’s a chance that our prolonged drought was part of the issue. The fact that we had a fire after ten days without any rain and dry conditions, windy days, warm days is recipe particularly in the spring for fire,” Robinson said. “Once the fire is extinguished, the air quality should improve rather quickly even at the local scale. What you really need is some rain to come down and clean out the atmosphere.”
Robinson says there’s rain in the forecast for the weekend, which will help firefighters to completely contain the wildfire.
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