THE disturbing cause of the massive wildfires that have blazed through New Jersey has been uncovered, according to officials.
Joseph Kling, 19, has been arrested and accused of sparking the inferno that torched 15,000 acres in the Pine Barrens and sent plumes of smoke wafting through the tri-state area.
Kling, who is from Waretown, about an hour south of New York City, allegedly started the tragedy by not properly putting out a bonfire.
According to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, King started the fire in the Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area by burning wooden pallets.
By Tuesday morning at around 10 am, officials spotted a cloud of smoke erupting from the area and discovered a blaze was spreading.
They used GPS to find where the fire started, and then traced it back to the teen.
Kling’s arrest was announced on Thursday, and he appeared straight-faced in a mugshot.
In the three days the fire has burned, around 15,000 acres in Ocean County have been reduced to a crisp, and thousands have been forced to evacuate.
The blaze had been contained by 50% on Thursday, but grew to more than 23 square miles.
Officials now fear it’s the largest wildfire the city has seen in over 20 years.
Roads and businesses have shut down, and at least one commercial building has been destroyed in the tragedy, according to ABC affiliate WCAU.
The blaze moved quickly through the heavily wooded Pine Barrens as a months-long drought and low humidity came in the middle of peak forest fire season.
The one million-acre forest is mainly uninhabited, but officials have warned that residential areas in America’s most densely populated state could be at risk, the Associated Press reported.
“This is still a very active fire,” Shawn LaTourette, New Jersey’s commissioner of environmental protection, said Wednesday.
“As we continue to get this under full control the expectation is that the number of acres will grow and will grow in a place that is unpopulated.”
No one has been injured or killed by the fires, and the 5,000 people who were asked to evacuate have returned home safely.
Power was briefly cut off to 25,000 people to protect the fire crews, but it has since been restored.
POLLUTION LOOMS
Areas in New York City and Long Island are expected to have higher-than-normal pollution levels thanks to the clouds of smoke.
Residents in the area have been warned to stay indoors if they want to avoid exposure.
Horror images have captured the tall flames towering over rows of trees and encroaching on buildings.
Video taken from busy highways shows the flames erupting from the side of the road and blowing into power lines.
Kling has been charged with arson and aggravated arson.
In February, Kling was one of eight people who faced charges after a fight broke out at a construction site, according to the Lacey Township Police Department.
He was charged with two counts of simple assault and endangering an injured victim.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/14096435/joseph-kling-nj-fire-ocean-county-arson-evacuations/
