Rain dampens but doesn't douse 3 NJ forest fires
By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press Writer

Rain dampened but didn't douse three forest fires that smoldered Tuesday in the tinder-dry Pinelands, including one on a military base and a small one that initially threatened some upscale homes.

Firefighters now say none of the blazes appeared to be a threat to people or property. Two were largely burning underground.

Thunderstorms that swept across the Pinelands on Monday evening had been viewed as a potential boon to firefighting operations, but they provided scant rainfall.

"The rainfall we got on these fires was spotty at best," said Bert Plante, a spokesman for the state Forest Fire Service. "Some spots got tenths of an inch, some got nothing at all."

A fire that started Monday at a firing range on the Army's portion of Joint Base McGuire-Fort Dix-Lakehurst grew from about 120 acres to nearly 400 acres by Tuesday morning.

The fire was smoldering, and smoke from it was blowing toward Ocean County, said Senior Airman David Carbajal, a base spokesman.

The military had cleared fire lines around 1,400 acres surrounding the blaze, and it was not expected to escape those boundaries, Plante said.

Elsewhere in Ocean County, a fire that charred nearly 900 acres in and around Barnegat _ including a swampy, marshy area _ continued to smolder underground. A half-inch of rain fell on that blaze, but it still was not enough to put it out, Plante said.

The fire still has not been declared under control, largely because dry vegetation and natural combustible materials mixed in with the soil were burning underground and posed the potential for flare-ups if winds increased.

In Evesham Township, Burlington County, a fire that burned 3 1/2 acres also continued to smolder Tuesday, although it no longer was considered a threat to nearby homes.

"The fire is boring its way into the turf," Plante said. "It's burning like a giant charcoal briquette right now. It's going to take some time to put that out."


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