Wharton Fire in Medford

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,181
Jessica saw it on TV but could not decide where it was from the footage.

Guy
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,181
It started near Jackson Road and moved north to Sunrise Lake in Medford.
 

WAMBA

Scout
Mar 20, 2006
74
0
Voorhees
my mother told me something about there being a medford forest fire on the news the other night, but i didn't think to check where it was before going out to place a geocache on crowfoot road (right off of jackson) earlier today.

as i was driving down jackson, i noticed a new-looking road off to the left that i hadn't seen before, so i drove down it a couple hundred feet and came to a burnt-out area of trees that still had white foam all over it. i decided not to go any further on the road cause it was a little too narrow and sandy for my crv, so i started to turn around to go back out. at this point, i hadn't made any connection between the fire in the news and what i had seen; i figured what i was looking at was merely the leftovers of a prescribed burn or something. i actually didn't even realize that particular section of jackson road was in medford because it was more down towards atco. to make a long story short, it turned out the road was new and had just been cut for the purpose of fighting this fire, and i ended up getting detained by some firefighters who found me in the middle of turning around to get back to jackson. they said they were still investigating the cause of the fire and copied down my drivers license info. while we awaited the arrival of the firefighter's boss, i explained geocaching to him and showed him my gps and the cache i was going to place, then i explained it briefly to the boss and explained i was only on their road because i had recgnized it as new and been curious. by the time they let me go i think they realized that i didn't have anything to do with the fire, but it still kinda freaks me out to think that i must now be on the suspect list!

i was looking up some stuff online about forest fires and the nj forest service when i got home and it's ridiculous how much of this stuff is caused by people... arson is the leading cause of nj forest fires at 40%, and most of the other common causes are people-related but accidental. lightning only accounts for 1% of nj forest fires. what i can't understand is why an arsonist would target forest lands...there can't be that many people who stand to benefit from most forest fires, at least not in the same way that people can as a result of setting fire to a home or business (from insurance, eliminating competition, etc.)
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,602
8,181
As long as you didn't start it don't worry. They were doing their job.

I was caught years ago in Medford on the high tension road near their stump dump and was accused of running my car into the towers. The cops came and took my info and was told that if anymore damage occurred there would check me out. Never heard from them again.

Guy
 

WAMBA

Scout
Mar 20, 2006
74
0
Voorhees
damn, in the same location and everything. now i'd really better stay away from jackson road. i feel sorry for the person who lives in that one house out there, it must be scary when the forest next to where you live keeps catching fire.
 

WAMBA

Scout
Mar 20, 2006
74
0
Voorhees
i was digging around online fro more info on this, and found a report and some pics from this fire on phillyfirenews.com:

Date: 3/22/2006
Time: 09:00
County: Burlington
Town: Medford Twp.
Address: Sunrise Lake off Jackson Road
Box:
Type: Brush Fire
Details: Medford Stations 252, 251 and 258 were dispatched at 0905 hrs to Assist the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. Units arrived at 0917 hrs and were assigned structural protection and to supply water to forestry. 13 homes were considered exposures. Due to the wind direction and the quick work of forestry, no structures sustained damage. CP 25 was set up as a Unity Commmand between B-1 Tom Gerber, 25201 Jim Steel, and Medford Chief of Police Jim Kehoe. The Burlington County Field Command Unit and the NJ State Forest Fire Field Command Unit served as the command post. The fire was contained at 1613 hrs and the CP ceased operations at 1823 hrs. There were 35+ Forestry units on location including units from B and C divisions and D-2 and D-5 (helocopters). Forestry remained on location over night to control spot fires. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Photos and Info. David Hernandez

5569_1.jpg

5569_2.jpg

5569_3.jpg

5569_4.jpg
 

popeofthepines

Explorer
Mar 8, 2006
206
73
Atco
Hey great information and pics. I am sure that area needs to be monitored as well as the whole medford/marlton area for the arsonist who set those houses on fire. It may be a good idea to avoid that area for a month or so. lol:)
 

WAMBA

Scout
Mar 20, 2006
74
0
Voorhees
popeofthepines said:
I am sure that area needs to be monitored as well as the whole medford/marlton area for the arsonist who set those houses on fire.

...and on that note:
http://www.nbc10.com/news/8175108/detail.html


and that site i got the other info from is worth checking out; it's really interesting because it has reports and pictures about local fires direct from the firefighters themselves. plus i found the above link on there too, so don't thank me, thank phillyfirenews.com ;-)
 
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