Homes Damaged, Firefighter Critical As Fire Burns In Ocean County

UPDATE: The fire continued to rage on Monday. Read more: NJ Forest Fire Updates: 29 Homes Damaged, Parkway Reopens

OCEAN COUNTY — Firefighters continued to battle a 162-acre forest fire on Monday morning that damaged at least 29 homes, forced hundreds to evacuate and closed the Garden State Parkway and Route 70, jamming roads as motorists tried to navigate through the area.

The Parkway was reopened by 9:30 p.m. but nj.com reported that a firefighter was critically injured.

New Jersey Forest Fire Service personnel and firefighters from all over Ocean County were working to extinguish the fire that started sometime after 1 p.m. in Lakewood, officials said.

Brick Township Mayor John G. Ducey said three of the homes, all in Brick Lake Park, were left uninhabitable. Residents of the small development off Cedar Bridge Avenue, were evacuated from their homes for a few hours but were allowed to return about 7 p.m., Brick police said.

In addition to the homes, two commercial structures were damaged, said Caryn Shinske, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the forest fire service.

The fire was about 50 percent contained as of about 8:30 p.m., 6ABC News reported. But much of the blaze was still underway on Monday morning.

The Garden State Parkway was closed in both directions from mile marker 91 to 83, and authorities also closed Route 70 in both directions from Chambers Bridge Road to the Parkway. The Garden State Parkway northbound entrances on Route 70 were closed until at least 9 a.m. on Monday. The southbound entrances were opened.

The fire is in a densely populated area of Ocean County. Stores and shopping centers line both sides of Route 70, and homes back up to many of them. Brick Lake Park, off Cedar Bridge Avenue, is tucked behind Target in Brick.

Other stores along Route 70 were evacuated as was the Hilton Gardens Inn, which sits along the westbound lanes of Route 70, according to The Lakewood Scoop.

On the eastbound side of Route 70, two shopping centers back up to large residential areas, with Lake Riviera on the east side of Shorrock Street and age-restricted communities on the west side, behind the Town and Country Shopping Center where Home Depot is located.

Hundreds of firefighters, including state forest fire service personnel and firefighters from all over Ocean County, were battling the blaze from the ground and from the sky. Helicopters scooped water from nearby Lake Riviera to drop on the fire to help extinguish it.

Diane Dowlen captured one of the helicopters scooping water from her kitchen window.

A state forest fire service official told 6ABC that the fire began in Lakewood and was reported sometime after 1 p.m. Strong winds that were gusting to as much as 40 mph, and low humidity caused the fire to spread quickly, crossing the Garden State Parkway into Brick.

Lakewood authorities requested additional help, including from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, a short time later, The Lakewood Scoop reported.

Firefighters from a number of nearby towns responded to help fight the blaze, which produced a plume of smoke that was seen for miles and picked up on Doppler radar, meteorologist Gary Szatkowski said.

Michelle Leonard of Beachwood said her daughter was driving south on the Parkway just before authorities closed it and encountered the fire.

"(There was) black red smoke, she couldn't see to drive. She had no choice but to keep going through it," Leonard said. "I just drove through it with her on FaceTime with absolute fear! Seeing the fire next to her car. She felt the heat!"

Leonard said her daughter's car was covered with ash and black soot when she got home.

Other motorists spent hours sitting on the Parkway after it was shut down, before backing up or crossing the median to get to an exit and get off the highway.

The fire happened as most of New Jersey, including Ocean County, is under a red-flag warning, which means that critical fire weather conditions are expected due to a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and dry brush and trees.

Any fires that develop may quickly get out of control and become difficult to contain, according to the National Weather Service.

The red flag warning is in place through late Monday afternoon, with 35 to 40 mph gusts expected Sunday afternoon and evening. Northwest 10 to 15 mph winds with gusts around 20 mph are expected from late tonight into Monday.

This is a developing story. Patch will have more details as information comes in.

With reporting by Megan VerHelst and Karen Wall