Drought makes for intense battle against wildfire in Cumberland County, New Jersey

DOWNE TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- Crews in South Jersey are battling a 120-acre wildfire in Downe Twp., Cumberland County amid very dry conditions.

Officials said the flames were spotted Thursday night in the area of Railroad Road, which is now closed.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has dubbed it the "Halloween Fire."

The fire was 75% contained as of Saturday evening. Firefighters are using a backfire operation to help contain it.

No injuries have been reported and no structures are threatened.

It's not yet known what sparked the fire.

The blaze will be staffed through the weekend and smoky conditions will likely linger until South Jersey sees some substantial rain.

As the drought persists throughout our area, firefighters are being met with challenging conditions.

SEE ALSO: Severe drought conditions expand in South Jersey and rest of Philadelphia region

"We've been very busy. Our folks are getting really tired. It's been nonstop night and day," said Chief Bill Donnelly, state fire warden for the NJ Forest Fire Service.

Donnelly had some stunning numbers to show just how busy the fall has been.

He said between Sept. 15 to Nov. 1, 2023, New Jersey had 27 fires that burned a total of seven acres.

During the same period in 2024, there have been 385 fires that have burned just under 800 acres.

"The fuels are so extremely dry the things that wouldn't typically start these fires are in fact starting the fires," said Donnelly.

More than half of New Jersey is in severe drought.

In addition to fire danger, residents are being asked to conserve water on a voluntary basis. New Jersey American Water is one of the companies closely monitoring conditions.

"Because we have over two million people that are drawing on our systems every day if each of the people do a little bit less consumption of water it helps overall on the draw that we have on the systems," said Mark McDonough, president of NJ American Water.

Water company officials say we're a ways off from mandatory water restrictions. But they stress that things like holding off on irrigating lawns and only running washing machines when they're full can go a long way in conserving water.