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00:00A lot of aircraft, a lot of moving parts.
00:14The Jones Road wildfire started yesterday morning.
00:18It was detected by Cedar Bridge Fire Tower.
00:20The fire observer in Cedar Bridge Fire Tower, when he climbed the tower that morning,
00:24he saw the wildfire and reported it at approximately 9.45 yesterday morning.
00:30We dispatched resources right off the bat.
00:33They arrived on location.
00:35The wildfire was about 10 to 20 acres upon arrival.
00:39And we had resources there quickly.
00:42We dispatched aircraft.
00:44And even with a big show of force to contain this fire, it still grew to be a large wildfire.
00:54We're still at it today.
00:59You can see the smoke behind us.
01:01We aren't out of the woods yet.
01:03We feel good about this, but we're still working toward it.
01:07Going forward, what's our plan?
01:10So our plan is to get people back home, get roads reopened, and knock that smoke down.
01:16So we're going to do that through mop-up and patrol.
01:18We've got approximately 100 firefighters on the fire line today, and they're out there working
01:24really hard, squirting out water along the parkway so there's no smoke on that morning
01:30commute or evening commute.
01:32They're putting out stumps and logs around homes so that there's no smoke, and they can
01:37open their windows, and their homes are safe, and they feel safe.
01:40We understand the evacuations were very disruptive.
01:44We'd like to thank the public for being understanding and patient with us.
01:48So thank you to the public.
01:51We're going to continue to knock back the smoke, reopen the roads, reduce the traffic.
01:57We're continuing damage assessments as we speak.
02:00The utility companies are getting back in there.
02:02We're working with them to re-energize power lines.
02:05All the evacuations have been lifted.
02:12This time last year, we were at 310 wildfires for a total of 315 acres burned.
02:26This year, for this same period, we're at 662 wildfires with 16,572 acres burned.
02:40Just an update on the fire we had down in Vineland, Cumberland County, over the weekend.
02:46That fire stands at 1,327 acres and is still 80% contained.
02:54There were 1,300 homes that were threatened during the course of fighting there.
03:24This fire and our forest fire service was successful thanks to the partnerships that we have
03:34with the mayor of Lacey Township and the county and the Jersey State OEM and State Police
03:41and our first responders all working together to protect our neighbors throughout this area.
03:48And again, there's a lot of work to do right now.
03:51The wildfire stands at about 11,500 acres and 30% containment.
04:00We fully expect that that number will grow, that we will see ultimately, when all is said and done,
04:09a greater number of acreage affected, and this could very well end up being the largest wildfire in New Jersey in 20 years.
04:20As many folks here know, we've been under continuing dry conditions, particularly in the southern part of the state,
04:30and those dry conditions have very much influenced this fire.
04:36The cause of the fire itself remains under investigation.
04:42Thankfully, no residential structures were lost.
04:48We did lose one commercial structure.
04:50Some outbuildings were also affected, and several vehicles as well.
04:57And around 5,000 residents were under either mandatory or voluntary evacuations,
05:05and those evacuation orders have been lifted, again, thanks to the great work of all of the first responders involved.
05:12One loss of life as about an hour ago.
05:18So students.