U.S. F-16s unleash "shock and awe" on South Jersey

Flare from fighter jet blamed for Pinelands fire

A massive wildfire that has already burned thousands of acres in the Pinelands and forced the evacuation of residents in two towns likely started this afternoon when an F-16 fighter jet dropped flares as part of a maneuver over a gunnery range, New Jersey National Guard officials said tonight.

The fire, fueled by dry conditions and gusty winds, has already consumed more than 12,000 acres, almost 19 square miles, along the border of Ocean and Burlington counties. Several highways were closed and as many as 2,000 homes in Stafford and Barnegat townships, including several retirement communities, had been evacuated.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.

Barnegat and Southern Regional high schools were opened this evening as shelters and the Red Cross was on hand providing food, water and bedding, police said.

Six homes in a Barnegat mobile home park were damaged, while portions of routes 539, 554 and 72, the main road to the coastal resort area of Long Beach Island, were closed, police said.
The north and southbound ramps for exits 63 and 69 on the Garden State Parkway were also closed by the fire, which began about 2:15 p.m., as was the southbound ramp of Exit 67, to help in the evacuation effort.

The Parkway itself, however, remained open and was moving without any delays, said Joseph Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which runs the Parkway.

"I don't imagine we're going to see any effect for awhile, if at all," Orlando said. "It's pretty far away from us right now."

The area burning was about 25 miles north of Atlantic City, at the edge of the 1.1 million-acre Pinelands preserve.

Bert Plante, a division fire warden with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, said fire trucks were being moved into front yards of homes in the village of Warren Grove, a section of Stafford Township in Ocean County, where homes were also threatened. Some residents used garden hoses to protect their property as the fire approached.

and more........

NO BLOOD FOR PINE NEEDLES!

We will fight you on the beaches, we will fight you in the swamps, we will fight you in the landfills.....

Damm the shoobies full speed ahead.

Exactly where were these F-16's on 9-11???

You invade New Jersey with the National Guard you have, not the National Guard you wish you had