Crews from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service are on alert this holiday weekend and bringing on extra staff. The hot dry weather we've been having has created serious fire danger.
In fact, rescuers have spent the better part of this week battling fires in Barnegat and Fort Dix.
"With it being so dry, a spark, that's all it would take. Just a spark," said Assistant Fire Warden Steve Holmes.
Fire officials are especially concerned that illegal 4th of July fireworks could trigger more wildfires.
"Some of the people that have really big fireworks, they can get out of sight, they come down and they don't even know how they started a fire," said Holmes.
Fire officials say that the several inches of dried leaves, twigs and turf on the ground are the equivalent of having an inch of gasoline on the forest floor.
"They burn very rapidly, and that's how the fire gets started. Very quickly because this stuff is fire fuel and it burns very fast," said Section Warden John Earlyn.
"We've gotten evacuated before, and a couple of years ago there was a really bad fire," said Becky Shoonover of Manahawkin, New Jersey. "It can happen and people have to be aware about it."
In addition to handling fireworks carefully, firefighters caution that you make sure cigarettes are extinguished and if you're making a fire in the woods, build it in an enclosed pit or ring so it won't spread.
