A suspect has been arrested and charged with igniting a massive wildfire in New Jersey that continued to burn Thursday across parts of the Pine Barrens in Ocean County, officials announced.
Joseph Kling, 19, of Ocean Township, is facing counts including aggravated arson and arson in connection with the blaze authorities said was sparked in Waretown earlier this week, according to a joint statement from Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer, NJ DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette and Ocean Township Police Chief Michal Rogalski. The arrest follows a “thorough and extensive investigation” that determined the cause of the blaze “to be incendiary by an improperly extinguished bonfire,” per the statement.
Officials said that “Kling was the individual responsible for setting wooden pallets on fire — and then leaving the area without the fire being fully extinguished.” He is currently being held at the Ocean County Jail pending his initial court appearance.
The fast-spreading flames were discovered on Tuesday within the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust’s Forked River Mountain, after the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower reported a large column of smoke in the area of Jones Road and Bryant Road in Ocean Township. In the days since, it has become one of the biggest wildfires New Jersey has seen in the past 20 years.
The fire, so far, has engulfed some 15,000 acres, triggering the evacuation of thousands of residents and the closure of some major roadways, including swaths of the Garden State Parkway and Route 9. They have since been reopened, and evacuation orders were lifted on Wednesday.
Officials said at least one commercial building has been destroyed and others damaged by the flames, but residences have so far been spared. Still, more than 1,000 structures remained threatened on Thursday, with the blaze about 50% contained.
What’s more, an estimated 25,000 homes and businesses in the county were left without power while first responders worked to battle back the flames, New Jersey Advanced Media reported. Jersey Central Power and Light Company said all of its customers in Barnegat Township, 98% of those in Ocean Township and three-quarters of its Lacey Township were left in the dark shortly after the fire was reported.
It has mostly been restored.
In response to the blaze, acting Gov. Tahesha Way declared a state of emergency on Wednesday. She is currently filling in for Gov. Phil Murphy, who is in Poland for the International March of the Living, held to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Originally Published: April 24, 2025 at 10:05 AM EDT
