Red Flag Warning issued Thursday for central, southern New Jersey

WOODLAND TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- A red flag warning is in effect for parts of central and southern New Jersey, according to the National Weather Service.

"The combination of very dry conditions, low relative humidity, and gusty winds will result in favorable conditions for the rapid spread of fires. Any fires that develop may become difficult to contain, especially across the Pine Barrens region," the agency said.

Chopper 6 flew over a small brushfire in Vineland, Cumberland County along Route 55 around lunchtime Thursday. It's unclear what caused it but it was just one of many fires that kept crews busy throughout the day.

"It started early this morning. We've been running a significant number of smaller wildfires across the state," said Assistant State Fire Warden Shawn Judy.

"We encourage people to really be cautious when discarding cigarette butts, wood stove ashes, please abide by the restrictions put in place," he said.

Some of those restrictions include limitations on different types of outdoor burning, like campfires.

Last week, Governor Phil Murphy also issued a statewide drought watch encouraging people to voluntarily conserve water.

Judy says patrol levels are up, ground and air assets are ready to go, and all 21 lookout towers in the state are currently staffed.

"In order for us to reduce the level of wildfire danger that we're in now, Mother Nature is going to have to grace us with a significant amount of precipitation," Judy said.

Until then, the combination of dry conditions, low humidity, and gusty winds present a very serious threat. Much of the state is at risk, especially the Pine Barrens.

Farmers in the region are also feeling the effects of the drought.

"We have a system of lift pumps, so we can recover water, that's otherwise going to go on downstream. We use that to try and supplement what little water was coming down the streams and that dried up at least three weeks, a month ago," said Joe Darlington, owner of Joseph J. White Farm.

Darlington is a fifth-generation cranberry farmer. He says he's taken a big hit financially recently and is worried about the future.

"We're hoping, at this point, it doesn't become a problem for next year's crop," Darlington said.

But right now experts are warning people to be especially careful.

"We're in our fall fire season but that period of dry weather that we've had leading up to our fall fire season has made it that much worse," Judy said.