Teenager arrested in connection with fast-growing New Jersey wildfire
TOMS RIVER, NJ – Authorities in New Jersey arrested and charged a man with arson for causing a fast-growing wildfire that has consumed thousands of acres in the central part of the state.
Joseph Kling, 19, of Ocean Township, was charged with aggravated arson and arson for the Jones Road wildfire, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday. The fire erupted on April 22 in Waretown — an unincorporated community on the Jersey Shore — and rapidly spread throughout the southern Ocean County area.
At about 9:45 a.m. on April 22, the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower located a column of smoke coming from the area of Jones Road and Bryant Road in Ocean Township, authorities said. There, emergency personnel saw a fire within the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust's Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area, which is on the east side of Jones Road.
Following an investigation conducted by local and state authorities, the cause of the fire was determined to be incendiary by an improperly extinguished bonfire, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. Prosecutors accused Kling of setting wooden pallets on fire and then leaving the area without the fire being fully extinguished.
“I’m not prepared to discuss a motive at this time, nor does the state have to prove what the motive is,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said at a news conference. “We can just confidently say that we can think the fire was set intentionally.”
Kling was taken into custody at Ocean Township Police Headquarters and then transferred to Ocean County Jail, pending a detention hearing.
By 7 p.m. on April 24, the fire had burned more than 15,000 acres and was 50% contained, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
Though no injuries have been reported from the wildfire, it destroyed a commercial building and multiple other outbuildings and vehicles, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. About 5,000 residents who evacuated have since been allowed to return home, while authorities predict the fire will keep spreading until the area gets a soaking rain.
Jones Road wildfire causing air quality issues as far as NYC
Heavy smoke from the wildfire was affecting visibility in neighboring townships, and authorities warned residents to drive cautiously. Some 60 miles away, authorities in New York issued air quality alerts on April 24 because the traveling smoke was making the air unhealthy for sensitive groups.
The alert covered Manhattan along with the Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland.
Residents in New York will be able to see and smell the smoke from New Jersey, officials said.
Contributing: Kathleen Hopkins and Erik Larsen, Asbury Park Press