OAN Staff Abril Elfi
12:37 PM – Thursday, April 24, 2025
A 19-year-old man from Ocean Township, New Jersey, has been charged with arson after being accused of igniting the recent New Jersey wildfire– torching 15,000 acres in the Garden State.
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According to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, 19-year-old Joseph Kling constructed a bonfire in the vast Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area using wooden pallets. However, the fire reportedly escalated uncontrollably after Kling failed to properly extinguish it.
He has been incarcerated at the Ocean County Jail, where he is currently awaiting his detention hearing.
First spotted from the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower, near Barnegat Township, at around 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, the fire initially covered just 10 to 20 acres. However, the flames quickly spread out of control, and as of Thursday morning — it has torched at least 15,000 acres and destroyed at least one commercial building.
According to the latest update from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, the fire is currently 50% contained with “12 structures threatened.”
Shawn LaTourette, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, stated that the blaze has the potential to become the largest wildfire in the state in the past two decades. He also commended the dedicated efforts of all the firefighters involved.
“Thanks to the incredible, heroic work of the good men and women of our fire service, homes and lives have been saved and we truly averted a major disaster,” he said.
He also stated that thankfully, no injuries have been reported and all evacuations have now been lifted.
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