Shotgun Fire | Sit Rep 1 | November 8, 2024, Friday

The SHOTGUN FIRE was reported as a new wildfire incident within the last 24 hours, which is located off of South Stump Tavern Road, and about seven (7) miles northwest of Lakehurst (Jackson Township / Ocean County), New Jersey.

(L) Photo Credit: NJFFS

The location where the wildfire is burning is in the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area.

It is also near a shotgun range and therefore the reason why the fire’s name is derived from. It was reported to 9-1-1 originally on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, at 1217 hours which quickly grew and threatened about 25 structures and forcing 15 homes being evacuated. The orders were quickly downgraded.

About 350 acres have been burned as of a presser released six hours ago along with an update of the fire having a 90% containment status.

The fire behavior has been observed according to the National Interagency Fire Center, an interagency wildfire reporting site that is active with running and spotting. Local Fire Officials expect that the State Forest Service will have dedicated members on the fire ground until it has been put out. This could take several weeks.

Incident Cooperators include the Jackson Fire District 2, NJ Forest Fire Service, NJ EMS Task Force, Jackson Township IAFF 4395, Ocean County EMS Coordinators, Bayville Volunteer Fire Department, and Cassville VFC #1.

Photo Credit: NJ EMS Task Force

The NJ EMS Task Force was dispatched on Wednesday of this week to the incident which deployed a planner, an ASAP (alternate support vehicle), a MOC (mobile operation command vehicle) and a staging area trailer. Looks like a MCRU (mass care response unit) has been added to this incident.

According to local media outlets, they are reporting this wildfire is one of three burning south of I-195. One Fire Official stated that these are the driest conditions they have seen in the area in more than 120 years (according to historical records).

According to the NIFC, there were 27 total personnel reported as being assigned to the incident, along with five engines.

The cost-to-date for fire suppression and containment efforts has reached a preliminary $30,000.

(c) 2024 NW Fire Blog