MANCHESTER, NEW JERSEY (AP) – A fire that tore through 15 square kilometres (KM)of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens this week has now been fully contained, authorities said on Thursday.
The blaze in Manchester, near Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, forced the evacuation of around 170 homes late on Tuesday, with police and fire officials going door-to-door to ask people to take temporary shelter at a nearby high school.
Firefighters were confronted by 60-metre flames as they battled the blaze, which rained down embers.
Helicopters filled large containers with water from a nearby lake on Wednesday and dropped it on the flames. No one was injured and no homes were damaged. The cause remains under investigation.
Dry, windy conditions similar to those in New Jersey have sparked fires in other states this week.
A wildfire that has burned 100 acres in south-central Wisconsin and forced evacuations has been contained, state officials said.
The fire began on Wednesday in the town of Necedah in Juneau County, about 145 km northwest of Madison, and forced about a dozen people to evacuate, according to the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Emergency workers also evacuated several structures in the fire’s path.
DNR officials said no one was injured but residents remained evacuated as of on Thursday morning and there was no timeframe for their return.
