New Jersey Forest Fire Service

Establishment and development Before the twentieth century, very little effort was made to control wildfires in New Jersey. According to reports of the state geologist, wildland fires in the Pine Barrens of South Jersey often burned 70,000 to 100,000 acres in any given year. In 1893, The New York Times reported "every year brings a reign of terror to the people living on and about the pine lands, and each year from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 worth of property is destroyed by fire". In an 1896 report, state geologist John Conover Smock estimated New Jersey's loss in timber at a million dollars annually over the previous twenty years and that forest fire was also "a source of great danger to the cranberry plantations". Shortly after his appointment as chief of the Division of Forestry (later renamed the United States Forest Service), Gifford Pinchot (1865–1946), was commissioned to study forest fires and the best means for fighting them and to "show by actual measurements the loss to the State of New Jersey from forest fires". Pinchot submitted a report in which he recommended that the government make active efforts toward forest fire control to protect forests for the public benefit. The state legislature created the New Jersey Forest Fire Service with an act signed into law by Governor Edward C. Stokes on April 18, 1906. The law went into effect on July 4, 1906. The Forest Park Reservation Commission, created the year before also at Pinchot's recommendation, regarded the creation of the Forest Fire Service as that body's most important accomplishment of the year. Theophilius P. Price, of Ocean County, was appointed the state's first firewarden. Notable fire incidents Because of nature of the fuels and vegetations within the Pine Barrens, the region has experienced many of the state's significant-impact fires that burned a large number of acres and property. In late April 1922, a fire that burned of Ocean and Monmouth counties also threatened the country estates of wealthy early twentieth-century American businessmen, John D. Rockefeller (near Lakewood), Arthur Brisbane (at Lane's Mills), and George J. Gould's estate known as "Georgian Court" (now the location of Georgian Court University). This fire caused approximately $3,000,000 of damage in 1922 U.S. dollars. In two days, on April 20 and 21 1963, a fast-growing wildfire destroyed of land and consumed 186 homes and 197 buildings. A few residents were killed in the incident. Several fires in the last two decades have been connected to accidents at United States military's Warren Grove Gunnery Range in Ocean County's Warren Grove. In April 1999, Nearly of forest, wetlands, cedar swamp and cranberry bogs burned after a Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II from the 111th Fighter Wing plane dropped a "dummy" bomb more than a mile from its target. In June 2001, a forest fire occurred when an Air National Guard plane dropped a 25-pound practice bomb at the range. On May 15, 2007, flares dropped from an F-16 belonging to the 177th Fighter Wing set off a large wildfire that consumed more than 18,000 acres (73 km2) of the Pinelands and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents. Several wildfire incidents have resulted in firefighter fatalities. Over four days in late May 1936, several fires torched of woods in the Pine Barrens, including a fire at Chatsworth in Burlington County. It is believed that shifting winds during a backfire operation took the lives of two fire wardens; and three men from the Civilian Conservation Corps' Company 225. On July 22, 1977, the Forest Fire Service and local fire departments responded to a fire burning in Bass River State Forest in Burlington County located north of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Extreme wind shifts and fire behavior caused units to be pulled out from the fire, but flames engulfed Engine Number 731, a specially equipped 10-wheel tank truck from the Eagleswood Fire Company resulting in the deaths of its four firemen, including a chief and assistant chief. A memorial to the fallen firefighters from the 1936 and 1977 Bass River Fires is located in the state forest along Greenbush Road in Bass River Township, New Jersey. ==Organization==

Mission The New Jersey Forest Fire Service operates in accordance with its as mission defined in the General Forest Fire Act, and the succeeding Forest Fire Prevention and Control Act which were codified in Title 13, Section 9, of the New Jersey Statutes. It is the state government's policy: The law defines the word "forest" broadly, construing wildlands that are "forest, bushland, grassland, salt marsh, and any combination thereof." According to the agency's administrative boundaries map, the Forest Fire Service is the primary response fire service agency for wildfires in approximately 77% of the state's land area—3,719,638 acres (1,505,284 ha). The service has offices for each of its three divisions at Andover, New Lisbon, and Mays Landing. Pursuant to , the New Jersey Forest Fire Service is led by a "State Firewarden" serving under the NJDEP Commissioner who "shall administer and supervise the Forest Fire Service, cooperating agencies, and such laws as shall deal with the protection of forests, from wildfire". The current state firewarden is William J. Donnelly. Regional divisions and districts The Forest Fire Service operates over three regional divisions, each administered by a division firewarden. Division A covers all of northern New Jersey north of the Raritan River. Division B covers central New Jersey south of the Raritan River but north of the Mullica River. Division C covers southern New Jersey south of the Mullica River. Each Division is partitioned into sections of approximately . There are 29 sections throughout the state. Each section is further divided into districts of to for a total of 269 districts statewide. ==Services==

Wildfire suppression and prevention According to the state budget for fiscal year 2016, roughly 43% of New Jersey's land is classified as forested. However, New Jersey has experienced a proliferation of residential subdivision and developments in its forested areas. Many of these rural and suburban areas offer a challenging combination of homes, residential communities, and other structures located within the wildland areas. The agency states that a majority of this development has been planned and built without due consideration for forest fire protection. This mix of wild and developed areas is called the wildland–urban interface. In 2014, the most recent year for which figures are available, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service responded to 1,063 wildfire events that destroyed 6,692 acres. Of these fires, 99% are either intentionally or accidentally caused by humans. However, because of innovations in fire-fighting technology and through an aggressive policy combining observation, identification, and containment of wildland fires, New Jersey experienced a reduction in the damage caused by incidents through the course of the twentieth century. Law enforcement duties and jurisdiction in the Apple Pie Hill fire tower is used to triangulate the location of smoke rising from a wildland fire. Firewardens are trained law enforcement officers empowered to enforce the provisions of New Jersey's General Forest Fire Act, and the succeeding Forest Fire Prevention and Control Act. A firewarden may demand that a property owner remove an identified fire hazard or any public nuisance situation that could cause or aid the spread of a forest fire. The property owner would be given a limited time to remove the hazard at their own cost, or if he neglects to do so, the firewarden may remove the hazard and charge the costs to the property owner or other responsible party. Further, during a period of drought or high danger of fires, the state Department of Environmental Protection can prohibit access to afflicted wildlands or suspend access to the areas for the permitted hunting and fishing season. Firewardens often conduct or assist in investigations to establish the cause of a wildfire and to assign liability for a person or party responsible for damages or costs. A firewarden has the authority to levy fines and seek the reimbursement for the costs of fighting a wildfire and for the damages caused. In some cases, these investigations result in criminal prosecution (in cases of arson) or civil liability (accidental fires, negligence). Because of the inherent danger of a wildfire, a firewarden is given the authority to place any person under arrest without warrant whom he has probable cause to believe has committed arson, has set a fire without permission, or for otherwise violating the state's forest fire laws. Agricultural burning and recreational fire permits The Forest Fire Service is the agency responsible for administering and issuing permits for agricultural open burning in order to clear lands for agricultural cultivation and use, pruning and cullings, to remove herbaceous plant life or hedgerows, or to eradicate infested plant life (including invasive species)". Permits are also given for recreational fires, such as seasonal campfires, or bonfires at an event or ceremony. Private residents or corporations cannot set fires without first receiving a permit from the Forest Fire Service. State law prohibits the setting of fire to forests and wildlands, specifically "to start fires anywhere and permit them to spread to forests, thereby, causing damage to or threat to life or property, either accidentally or otherwise, directly or indirectly, in person or by agent, or cause to be burned, waste, fallows, stumps, logs, brush, dry grass, fallen timber or any property, material, or vegetation being grown thereon, or anything that may cause a forest fire". State regulations prohibit use of fire in the disposal of rubbish, garbage, trade waste, buildings or structures, salvage operations, or the burning of fallen leaves. ==Operations==

Equipment and personnel . The New Jersey Forest Fire Service is the largest firefighting agency in New Jersey. The agency employs over 2,000 part-time, on-call, paid wildland firefighters, and 89 full-time civil service positions that include professional firefighting personnel (division and section firewardens), forest fire observers, fleet repair personnel, office staff, and other support personnel. All crewmen receive training that includes the S-130/S-190 training courses on fire behavior and firefighting techniques, as well as coursework on human factors in wildland firefighting (L-180) and traffic incident management and safety training (TIMS). As of November 2012, the agency's fire apparatus included 97 off-road wildland engines equipped with full brush cages and steel plating, 96 of which are type 6 engines. It further includes twelve type 4 engines. Further, the agency "constructs all of its own initial attack fire suppression vehicles". in the summer of 2015, approximately 50 New Jersey Forest Fire Service crewmembers and wardens were deployed to assist on large wildfire incidents in Montana, Oregon, and Washington state. Aviation The New Jersey Forest Fire Service facilitates aerial attacks on wildland fires using helicopters (Helitack), spray planes, and airtankers based at three air attack bases operating in each of the agency's regional divisions. However, the service's aircraft do utilize other airports in the state. It has one runway designated 3/21 at an elevation of above mean sea level. • Coyle Field , is a private-use airport established in 1938 and located five miles southeast of Chatworth. It has three gravel runways designated North-South, Northeast-Southwest, and Northwest-Southeast at an elevation of above mean sea level. • Strawberry Field , is a private-use airport located two miles north of Mays Landing. It has a turf-sand runway designated 14/32 at an elevation of above mean sea level. Fire towers The Forest Fire Service operates a system of 21 fire lookout towers at locations throughout the state. From these towers—using an instrument called the Osborne Fire Finder, or an alidade, and topographical maps—trained fire observers are able to spot and triangulate the location of possible wildfires. After ascertaining the location, the observer will file a "smoke report" which will be investigated and appropriate action taken by a local firewarden. The first fire lookout towers were privately constructed in the Pine Barrens during the late nineteenth century. However, with the creation of the Forest Fire Service in 1906, the state began erecting towers, starting with the Culvers Station (then called the Normanook Fire Tower) in 1908 along Kittatinny Mountain near Culver's Lake and the Culver's Gap. Many of the state's fire towers were built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). More were erected during World War II, to aid both the Forest Fire Service and to the Aircraft Warning Service, operating from mid-1941 to mid-1944, in which fire observers were assigned additional duty as enemy aircraft spotters. During World War II, the Lakewood Station was "used to listen to German U-boat communications in the Atlantic Ocean 12 miles to the east". ==See also==