Officials: Ocean County wildfire consumes more than 13,200 acres, is 50% contained
Firefighters will remain on the scene through the night to protect the area.
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Firefighters continue working on the massive Ocean County wildfire which began Tuesday morning and consumed more than 13,000 acres.
Flames grew rapidly before thousands were forced out of their homes on Tuesday.
"It's impressive to see the intensity of those fire runs that made their way last night," said John Cecil, assistant commissioner of State Parks for NJDEP.
The Jones Road wildfire began burning across Ocean and Lacey townships near the Greenwood Forest Wildfire Management area.
"These fires have a capability of driving that energy and building off of themselves," said Cecil.
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Evacuation orders weren't lifted until Wednesday morning, before a state of emergency was declared. Officials shared that one commercial building was destroyed along with a few cabins and vehicles.
"There's still embers that rain down and shower down," said Division Forest Fire Warden Trevor Raynor.
"There’s always a firefighter at the end of those embers putting those embers out, which made it successful for us."
Fire officials say even seemingly small fires can grow due to dry, windy weather conditions. "A nice clear sky today, low humidity, winds, warm temps, it's all ripe for fire spread," said Raynor.
