Essex County, NJ wildfire could reach 190 acres, with officials desperate for rain

Firefighters were continuing to battle a 140-acre wildfire in Essex County, New Jersey Sunday morning. And with nearly no rain in the forecast, it’s unclear how long it might take to extinguish the blaze.

The state’s Forest Fire Service was on site, working with the Livingston Fire Department. Officials said that as of mid-morning Sunday, the fire was 60% contained. They expected it to grow to 190 acres before being completely contained, meaning it isn’t expected to escape a controller perimeter.

But getting the fire extinguished is a very different matter than getting it contained, officials stressed.

“A fire this size, we're not going to have firefighters on all 190 acres, so we're going to rely on Mother Nature,” Eric Weber, an assistant division fire warden for the Forest Fire Service, said. “So essentially until it rains or snows, this fire will not be considered out until then.”

New Jersey hasn’t seen significant rainfall in nearly a month, and there’s little in the forecast. Essex County has a 30% chance of precipitation on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

“I would say the conditions we're currently experiencing are unprecedented,” Weber said. “This is a dry spell record for New Jersey. We're going into a drought. You know, it's fall. Typically, when the leaves are on the ground is when we're at higher risk for wildfires … so I would say probably this is the worst-case scenario we've seen in potentially a lifetime, or all of our time.”

Livingston Fire Chief Christopher C. Mullin said in his community, “we're not used to this.”

“I've been in the department for 38 years, and this is our largest wildfire and the largest amount of outside resources that were brought into our township to fight the fire.”

Fire officials said they’re still investigating what caused the blaze.

Ten structures were considered at risk Sunday, down from nearly 50 the night before, though none were evacuated at that point. Saturday, some commercial structures had been evacuated, including The Shoppes at the Livingston Circle complex off Eisenhower Parkway, a major thoroughfare in Livingston.

A helicopter capable of dropping about 350 gallons of water was deployed, the Forest Fire Service said.

The service’s estimated size of the fire has doubled since it was first reported Saturday evening.

Several local roads remained closed Sunday morning: Naylon Ave, Dorsa Ave and Industrial Parkway. However, the Route 10 highway had reopened, and Eisenhower Parkway was slated to reopen in both directions at about noon.

The wildfire follows another weekend brush fire, at Drew University’s nature preserve in Morris County. That fire has been extinguished.

The Forest Fire Service warns most of the state is at “extreme” risk of wildfires, the highest risk category in its ranking system. Only a few counties, in South Jersey, are at the “very high” risk level, one notch down.

New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation currently ranks all of New York State at “high” risk of wildfires.

Weber said this was the year’s first “major” wildfire — one of more than 100 acres — in the state’s Division A, which includes much of New Jersey north of the Raritan River. It’s the fifth major wildfire in the state so far this year.

The National Weather Service and state officials both warn that extreme dry vegetation could become fuel for any further fires.

“These conditions will support the spread of any fires that ignite, which could quickly become difficult to control,” it said in an alert.

Mullin, the Livingston chief, asked the residents to avoid backyard barbecues, fire pits and fireworks for celebrations.

“Any spark could cause the fire and with the current conditions, and depending on the humidity and weather, we could have something catastrophic,” he said.

This story has been updated with further details about the Essex County wildfire.