Photographer shares recap of the now largely contained Jennings Creek Wildfire in New Jersey
Bobby Stormer has been documenting the states largest wildfire of the year since Saturday as the once thriving landscape is now scorched.
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Firefighters now winding down efforts to extinguish the wildfire that torched nearly 5,000 acres across state lines. Days later that fire finally brought under much better control on the New Jersey side. Crews still fighting hard on the New York side.
The Jennings Creek Wildfire is 90% contained and no more buildings in New Jersey are threatened. But wildlife has been stirred up, residents nearby are concerned, and first responders left exhausted on the front lines. It's all captured on camera.
"As a photographer from a visual aspect it's pretty awe-inspiring but being so connected to nature it's pretty devasting," Bobby Stormer.
Bobby Stormer has been documenting the state's largest wildfire of the year since Saturday as the once thriving landscape is now scorched.
"I was literally watching it come over the ridgeline down at the other end of the lake. I pulled an all-nighter, I was here until 6 in the morning," said Stormer. "Sunday it was up and over the tree line. So you kind of had it the foreground of the houses which was a surreal thing to see."
He captured the firefighters as they tried to contain the flames. 2,283 acres of forest burned in New Jersey, threatening 2 homes and 8 historical buildings.
"Tuesday the winds shifted a little bit so all the smoke started riding the valley down into the Monksville Reservoir," said Stormer.
Then a stunning sunrise Thursday, filtered by smoke.
"It shifted completely. A lot of the action was at the New Jersey side," said Stormer. "And now a lot of the focus is down here towards the New York border."
While the images are dramatic, it was the sounds he heard that struck him the most. The crackling of the burning wood, sizzling of the sap, haunting bird calls and the creaking and crashing of trees.
"I knew it was going to be pretty crazy. But I never expected to experience something quite like this," said Stormer. "I felt like it had to be documented to maybe prevent future fires, whatever it may be."
A cause has yet to be determined.
