VIDEO: The fall wildfire season is off to an early start in New Jersey with the ignition of the Buckabear Fire last Wednesday.
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service says a typical fall fire season runs from mid-October until Thanksgiving, but this year is already a month ahead of schedule.
Abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions persist across northern New Jersey, and Smokey the Bear declared the fire risk “high” on Tuesday.
“We are looking at probably an average-to-above-average fire season this fall,” New Jersey Forest Fire Service Assistant Division Fire Warden Christopher Franek said. He said boots on the ground data coming in suggests preparing for the worst.
“We are preparing ourselves for fires and events similar to what happened last year,” he said, adding, “We are posturing ourselves with more personnel out there in the field, some more equipment are being staffedโฆmore awareness.”
Franek said they dubbed last year the “Siege of 2024,” when the Jennings Creek Fire burned roughly 5,200 acres across New York and New Jersey — just one of the hundreds of fires battled in the Garden State in 2024.
