Raging 3,200-acre New Jersey wildfire orces evacuation of thousands

An erupting New Jersey brush fire is raging over 3,200 acres and growing and has forced the evacuation of thousands of residents. It was only 5 percent contained by Tuesday night, said fire officials.

The Jones Road Wildfire was burning near South Jersey’s Barnegat Township in Ocean County along the New Jersey shore. Some 17 miles of the state’s busiest highway, the Garden State Parkway, was shut down near Waretown by the fire.

It was sparked Tuesday in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area. The cause of the blaze was not yet known. An investigation is ongoing

Mandatory evacuations were in effect for 3,000 residents as the fire threatened an estimated 1,300 structures.

Fire engines, bulldozers and ground crews drawing personnel from multiple communities were on the scene battling the blaze.

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