Who to call when the woods are burning down...?

[gipsie]

I am so upset and disappointed. My friend Chuck and I were meeting on Quaker Bridge Rd. today. As I pulled onto Penn Swamp Rd. he called me and asked me if there was a controlled burn in the area. I knew there were supposed to be and asked him why he asked. He told me that there was a ton of smoldering woods everywhere. I had the number to Wharton Emergency Services and Atsion so I tried calling. They wanted the exact area that it was and I told them I would call them back when I got there. I got to the area, called them and offered GPS coordinates. After I got done giving them my name, address, phone number and vital statistics, I told them the general area. Went over roads, area, etc. Again offered the GPS coordinates. They don't want them. Then he asks me what town I am in. I tell him I am not sure, it is either Shamong or Atsion but is in Wharton and he asks some more silly questions. Then he asks me if I am near Wharton State Forest. I tell him I am IN Wharton State Forest. He tells me they will send someone. I ask who. He doesn't know.
Chuck and I drive down an unnamed road and see more smoldering piles EVERYWHERE. I finally decide to call a fireman friend and he says that he will call central. Also tells me that there was a burn in the area yesterday. Calls me back and tells me that they will check. We drive further and explore the area we had originally intended to explore. We are leaving and the smoldering piles are now BURNING! We stop and do the whole buckets of water, shovels of dirt thing, but it is still smoldering. Not sure what to do, we decide to go to Atsion Ranger Station and see if we can tell someone there. Get to the ranger station and it is closed until March 31st. There is a number on the door for Batsto and I call it. Talk to a super nice lady there and she asks me if I am the person that called the emergency number. I tell her yes and she thanks me for calling back because the dispatcher had no idea where the fire was. She takes the GPS coordinates and tells me that someone is on the way. And thanks me over and over again.
There has to be a better system in place. And it made my mind up. I am joining forest fire services. That's it.

 

[Chrisr]

I know there were controlled burns on Thursday. However, if you can get cell service where your at in the woods, call 911.

 

[46er]

Things tend to smolder for a few days after a burn, its normal. Double Trouble was still smoking yesterday after last weeks burn. If there were a problem area the Forest Service would be on it. They are some of the best at what they do.

 

[DeepXplor]

controlled burns

Don't get too upset, controlled burns are good, necessary and help prevent large forest fires.

 

[maxwellandson]

controlled burn season has been extended to march 22 now.

 

[GermanG]

I've taken part in many prescribed burns on county lands as part of my job. Smoldering logs and stumps are extremely difficult to extinguish without wastefully blasting huge amounts of water onto them, then returning several times to repeat the process, as the smoldering interior of the wood warms the exterior, which often re-ignites. Standard procedure is to just let these smolder, since they are surrounded by burned ground and can’t really spread to anything. More thorough mop up usually is only done within sight of well-traveled roads, since good-intentioned drivers passing by at night will spot the small flame, call 911, and a response is then required.

 

[bobpbx]

Gipsie,

You did your best. I think the real point of your story is that authorities are lax and don't often understand or acknowledge citizen concerns like they should. Though most of us understand that there was no danger, you could not have known that.

 

[freerider]

Most authorities have no respect for citizens whatsoever.

Although they are always concerned we need to be saved from ourselves.

 

[kayakmac]

Fire co-ordination

I had the same thing in Galloway Twsp the other day! I spotted smoke off to the east from Lower Bank Bridge (near Clarks Landing) but when I called Fire dispatch in Egg harbor City, they didn't have any info on it. I rode to the landing and saw NJ Forest Fire on site with EHC PD and others. The fire was a control burn on Hog Island(s). It was interesting watching the NJFF helocopter drop small incendiary balls on the marsh. (Called "red dragon"). I heard they had trouble getting it to light. Makes you wonder who to call!

 

[maxwellandson]

there should be more communication between the state and the local districts. We know where the state intends to burn but do not know exactly when they are gonna burn certain areas. Sometimes the only way we know for sure it is a controlled burn is after someone calls it in and they dispatch the fire dept. The State monitors our channels and if they hear it come across they notify us or the dispatch

 

[uh60chick]

As a landowner, I'm required to call the local Forest Fire Service warden, the fire tower, and Burlington County Central Communications both at the beginning and end of a prescribed burn.

 

[Old Crazy]

I had a similar frustrating incident trying to notify the authorities in the pines about a dangerous situation.

I was hiking the Batona Trail about 4-5 miles south of Batsto. When I reached Bulltown road there was a large pitch pine that had fallen and was completely blocking one lane of the road. The tree had fallen in the worst spot possible. It was laying on the outer edge of a sharp curve where drivers wouldn't see it until they were literally 20 feet away from it. Most cars are travelling 40+ mph on that curve, which wouldn't give them enough time to stop or swerve around it. I tried to move it, but it wouldn't budge.

I called 411 and tried to find out what police department is responsible for that area, but they didn't know. I then called the Bass River state police and a rather annoyed dispatcher told me removing downed trees from the road wasn't their responsibility. When I asked him whom I should call he told me he didn't know and he gave me a phone number to another state police barracks. The next state police dispatcher I spoke with told me his department only handles incidents on the Garden State Parkway and the NJ Turnpike, so he couldn't help me, and he told me never to call that number again if it didn't concern the Turnpike or the Parkway.

As I'm disconnecting from that phone call trying to figure out whom to call next, I spotted a group of cyclists and flagged them down. The combined muscle of the group was enough to move that tree off the road.

I'm shocked that the state police weren't concerned about a downed tree in the road that could have potentially caused a fatal accident.

 

[mudboy dave]

I had a similar frustrating incident trying to notify the authorities in the pines about a dangerous situation.

I was hiking the Batona Trail about 4-5 miles south of Batsto. When I reached Bulltown road there was a large pitch pine that had fallen and was completely blocking one lane of the road. The tree had fallen in the worst spot possible. It was laying on the outer edge of a sharp curve where drivers wouldn't see it until they were literally 20 feet away from it. Most cars are travelling 40+ mph on that curve, which wouldn't give them enough time to stop or swerve around it. I tried to move it, but it wouldn't budge.

I called 411 and tried to find out what police department is responsible for that area, but they didn't know. I then called the Bass River state police and a rather annoyed dispatcher told me removing downed trees from the road wasn't their responsibility. When I asked him whom I should call he told me he didn't know and he gave me a phone number to another state police barracks. The next state police dispatcher I spoke with told me his department only handles incidents on the Garden State Parkway and the NJ Turnpike, so he couldn't help me, and he told me never to call that number again if it didn't concern the Turnpike or the Parkway.

As I'm disconnecting from that phone call trying to figure out whom to call next, I spotted a group of cyclists and flagged them down. The combined muscle of the group was enough to move that tree off the road.

I'm shocked that the state police weren't concerned about a downed tree in the road that could have potentially caused a fatal accident.

welcome to Jersey

 

[woodjin]

I had a similar frustrating incident trying to notify the authorities in the pines about a dangerous situation.

I was hiking the Batona Trail about 4-5 miles south of Batsto. When I reached Bulltown road there was a large pitch pine that had fallen and was completely blocking one lane of the road. The tree had fallen in the worst spot possible. It was laying on the outer edge of a sharp curve where drivers wouldn't see it until they were literally 20 feet away from it. Most cars are travelling 40+ mph on that curve, which wouldn't give them enough time to stop or swerve around it. I tried to move it, but it wouldn't budge.

I called 411 and tried to find out what police department is responsible for that area, but they didn't know. I then called the Bass River state police and a rather annoyed dispatcher told me removing downed trees from the road wasn't their responsibility. When I asked him whom I should call he told me he didn't know and he gave me a phone number to another state police barracks. The next state police dispatcher I spoke with told me his department only handles incidents on the Garden State Parkway and the NJ Turnpike, so he couldn't help me, and he told me never to call that number again if it didn't concern the Turnpike or the Parkway.

As I'm disconnecting from that phone call trying to figure out whom to call next, I spotted a group of cyclists and flagged them down. The combined muscle of the group was enough to move that tree off the road.

I'm shocked that the state police weren't concerned about a downed tree in the road that could have potentially caused a fatal accident.

Wow. frustrating huh? I guess we have to watch out for each other and not depend on the agencies we pay to watch out for us.

 

[mudboy dave]

Wow. frustrating huh? I guess we have to watch out for each other and not depend on the agencies we pay to watch out for us.

......................as i said welcome to Jersey. :jeffd:

 

[Anger Management]

Just dial 911, they have to transfer you to the proper authorities. Keep in mind that you may hit several different cell towers, so you may get (depending where you are) Burlington Central, Camden County, Atlantic County, or Ocean County Dispatch.

 

[Kevinhooa]

fires

Gipsie, I know what you're talking about. I went through the area south of Hampton Furnace and everything was still smoking pretty good at around 12:00 pm. It looked like they burned it on Saturday and the rain we had on Sunday was slowly putting the smoking parts out. I really expected to see some firefighters in the woods with how hot it still was. It was a huge contrast to the sunny day I went through there two weeks ago.

Kevin