Official Site of The State of New Jersey

As wildfire seasons grow longer and dry conditions persist, proactive preparedness and strong collaboration are vital to safeguard lives, property and natural resources. Prevention remains the most important part of the equation, as most wildfires can be avoided by adhering to commonsense safety tips. For example, homeowners should remove pine needles, leaves and other debris from gutters, and smokers are reminded to properly dispose of cigarettes and smoking materials. After using a fireplace or woodburning stove, fully douse ashes with water since both can emit embers that spark fires. Dispose of fully doused ashes in a metal can or cylinder.

Property owners in wooded areas need to be especially aware of their environment and should take steps such as maintaining defensible barriers, or cleared areas, around structures. They should create space of at least 30 feet between homes and flammable vegetation in forested or wooded areas, and 100 feet from homes in the Pinelands region. These buffers should be free from vegetation that will burn easily, such as fallen leaves, pine needles, twigs and branches. Make sure firetrucks can access driveways.

The Forest Fire Service is at work throughout the year planning and implementing a variety of forest management projects to further reduce the threat of wildfire. As conditions allow, the Forest Fire Service implements a proactive program of prescribed burns to reduce fallen debris and understory that can fuel wildfires. Fuel breaks, a manmade change in forest fuel characteristics, and firebreaks, a constructed clearing used to stop fires, can both change fire behavior while providing an opportunity to slow or stop the fire. Prescribed fire also improves habitat for plants and animals, reduces the presence of damaging insects and ticks, and recycles nutrients into the soil.

Information about wildfire risks and mitigation is especially critical for people who live within or adjacent to forested areas, also known as the wildland-urban interface. Information tools the Forest Fire Service has introduced in response to the growing dangers include:

The NJ Fire Danger Dashboard, found on the Forest Fire Service website, is updated frequently with a fire danger rating by county, displays a color-coded index of different fire danger ratings and provides a snapshot view of risk by county. The dashboard also displays any current campfire restrictions that may be implemented depending on fire weather conditions such as high winds or prolonged dry periods.

The New Jersey Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal (NJWRAP) compiles data and resources to assist residents, community leaders and fire professionals in taking actions to mitigate the threat of wildfire risk around their property and in their community. Data and preparedness resources presented in the portal were developed by the nation’s wildfire experts, with Forest Fire Service personnel providing practical and local information.

The Forest Fire Service also keeps the public informed through its social media platforms on Facebook and X, posting information on wildfires that are deemed major, or at least 100 acres in size; involve structures that are threatened, meaning they are in the vicinity of an active wildfire; or result in road closures. The Forest Fire Service provides updates in real time as necessary, as well as progress on containment status and other key information for public awareness.

A network of 21 fire towers across the state are critical to the Forest Fire Service’s mission of early detection and rapid response to wildfires. Fire Observers, trained in taking weather readings and reading smoke and fire behavior, scan the horizon from the towers looking for smoke, triangulate and pinpoint the location of the smoke with other nearby towers, and dispatch resources to investigate the cause. Fire towers frequently dispatch resources to the source of smoke several minutes before the first 9-1-1 call is placed.

The Forest Fire Service is the lead agency for all wildland fires in the Garden State and initiates the incident command structure once arriving on scene. Local fire departments may also be requested to assist with establishing water supply or protect improved property and structures while the Forest Fire Service focuses on containment and suppression of the main wildfire.

Aircraft for observation or suppression may also be deployed in support of wildfire response. The Forest Fire Service maintains a fleet of three Bell UH-1H helicopters for suppression, two Bell 206 Jet Rangers, one Bell 47 and three Cessna fixed-wing aircraft for observation. Additionally, for 30 days each spring, the Forest Fire Service contracts additional fixed-wing aircraft capable of dropping several hundred gallons of water to assist in the rapid response to any wildland fires that may spark

These activities are directed by fire wardens and staff from a command post that is a central location for communications and deployment of resources, including wildland fire trucks and aircraft.

The Forest Fire Service’s national leadership in implementing prescribed fire and fighting wildfires frequently draws firefighters, students, scientists and researchers from around the country and world to New Jersey to learn about prescribed burning, the fire adaptability and ecology of the Pinelands region and forest management.

The Forest Fire Service is committed to field and professional training in all facets of wildfire suppression, the science of firefighting, sharing resources and experience based on the experience gained in the fire-prone Pinelands, and assisting with wildfire response in all parts of the nation.

For nearly 40 years, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has offered aid to many states – including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. These out-of-state deployments allow Forest Fire Service members to receive national certifications with experience that can be brought home to help protect lives, property and natural resources in New Jersey.