Fire in Wharton

[Teegate]

There is a fire in Wharton near Raritan Ave in Atco.

 

[enormiss]

WILDFIRE UPDATE: California Branch Wildfire - Wharton State Forest - Waterford, Camden County
The New Jersey Forest Fire Service is on scene of a wildfire burning in the area of Raritan Ave and Old Atsion Rd in Wharton State Forest.
Crews have initiated a backfiring operation to assist in containing the fire.

 

[enormiss]

Don't see any smoke but it's really windy right now

 

[Teegate]

Interesting name for a Branch. Never heard of that.

 

[smoke_jumper]

 

[smoke_jumper]

Interesting name for a Branch. Never heard of that.

I have heard that area called that by some people. But I have never seen it called that on a map.

 

[dragoncjo]

Very windy out right now in Shamong. That fire will spread pretty quick but it has burned last year in some of that area.

 

[stiltzkin]

From the NJFFS Facebook page:

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service remains on scene of a wildfire burning in the area of Raritan Ave and Old Atsion Rd in Wharton State Forest.
The wildfire has crossed the Mullica River and is now burning in Shamong Twp., Burlington County and Waterford Twp, Camden County.

Next update at approximately 8AM tomorrow.

 

[dragoncjo]

Guessing containment and size of fire will be bound by old atsion to raritan up the sandy causeway down atsion to along old Jackson road. Forms a nice rectangle. Unless it jumped raritan then it could get a bit bigger.

 

[RednekF350]

Interesting name for a Branch. Never heard of that.

Me neither.
The fire was very close to a friend’s house but the NW winds are a blessing.

 

[dragoncjo]

Just went for a quick drive. Back fire after plastic bridge along sandy causeway. Back fired along old Jackson starting by the road that goes the goshen pond campground. Was in my Honda so didn’t look further.

 

[dragoncjo]

1750 acres now, 50% contained.

 

[Beach&Barrens]

It was very smoky along Atsion Road yesterday afternoon.

 

[slingblade]

Don't remember any wildfires occurring this early in the year. At the end of March there's usually discussion of which sand roads are flooded or the forecasted flurries.

 

[dragoncjo]

Don't remember any wildfires occurring this early in the year. At the end of March there's usually discussion of which sand roads are flooded or the forecasted flurries.

It’s just so dry, last rain helped but heading in there wasn’t much water anywhere. I think we are in for another very active fire year unless we get rain dumped on us.

 

[Boyd]

Don't remember any wildfires occurring this early in the year.

That's an interesting observation. I don't have an opinion one way or the other, but thought it would be interesting to do a quick (very unscientific!) search for threads about fires in March and April. Only went back to 2013 and I'm sure I missed some. My general take-away from this was that there are fires in the pines throughout the year.

Active Fire (04/24/2024)

forums.njpinebarrens.com

Large forest fire shuts down Garden State Parkway in Ocean County, NJ

There are multiple fires everywhere today. https://6abc.com/nj-forest-fire-shuts-down-garden-state-parkway-in-ocean-county/10417259/

forums.njpinebarrens.com

5 charged with setting bonfire that ignited forest fire that burned 11K acres of N.J. Pinelands

https://www.nj.com/burlington/2020/04/5-charged-with-setting-bonfire-that-ignited-forest-fire-that-burned-11k-acres-of-nj-pinelands.html

forums.njpinebarrens.com

Forest fire burns roughly 1,000 acres in Cumberland County; fire not under control

https://6abc.com/raging-forest-fire-burns-1000-acres-in-nj/6091329/

forums.njpinebarrens.com

FIRE CREWS BATTLING FOREST FIRE IN BURLINGTON COUNTY

http://6abc.com/news/fire-crews-battling-forest-fire-in-burlington-county-/1240685/

forums.njpinebarrens.com

NJ Forest Fire Impacts 30 Acres

A forest fire burned along 30 acres of land in the Wharton State Forest on Sunday afternoon. The location of the fire was 31 Batsto Road. Smoke could be seen for miles. Crews dropped water on the fire from airplanes and used backfires to contain the fire. The fire did not threaten structures or...

forums.njpinebarrens.com

Wharton Forest fire 4/6/13

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/21899600/nj-wildfire-growing

forums.njpinebarrens.com

 

[Rooftree]

I would guess that the blue dash line is California Branch. It appears to be within the original fire area. Does anyone have another name for it? The red line is 5 Mile Crossing. It’s been noted by the FFS. It runs between Old Atsion Rd and Raritan Ave.

 

[Boyd]

Looking at all my topo maps, the only one that shows any kind of stream at your blue dashed line is the (so-called) 1949 USGS topo. That seems to match the 1930's aerials in your screenshot very well, but there's no name. The older topos don't show a stream there, the 24k legacy doesn't show it and neither do the USGS digital or OpenStreetMap topos. It's not on my own maps either or the USGS National Hydrography Dataset. They all just show an area of wetlands there.

 

[smoke_jumper]

I would guess that the blue dash line is California Branch. It appears to be within the original fire area. Does anyone have another name for it? The red line is 5 Mile Crossing. It’s been noted by the FFS. It runs between Old Atsion Rd and Raritan Ave.View attachment 24492

I’ve always known that red line as California Branch Road. It crosses Rairitan at Five Mile Crossing which gets it name from the fact that it’s 5 miles from the center of Atco. I’ve looked for confirmation of the name of the road and branch on many maps but never found it.

 

[Rooftree]

See 2015 DEP Map for 5 Mile Crossing, which you known it as California Branch Road. So, it makes sense that the road crosses California Branch.