Wildfire — Western Atlantic, New Jersey

2008-10-21 to 2008-10-27 · Western Atlantic, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

The Sauder Ditch Wildfire, consumed about 1950 acres of forest before it was contained. The fire began in a secluded section of Wharton State Forest in Waterford Township (Camden County) close to 3 p.m. EDT on the 21st. This location is west of U.S. Route 206 and south of the Atsion Recreational Area. It spread into parts of Shamong Township (Burlington County) and Hammonton Township (Atlantic County).

Gusty northwest winds along with recent dry weather helped spread the fire quickly and hampered fire fighting efforts on the 21st and 22nd. A state of emergency was declared in Shamong Township (Burlington County) on the 21st and lifted on the 22nd. About four homes and two businesses on U.S. Route 206 in Hammonton (Atlantic County) were evacuated because of fear of smoke and the fire itself on the 21st. They were allowed to return at Noon EDT on the 22nd.

The fire reached up to 100 feet in the air and was visible from Atlantic City. Smoke was smelled as far away as Ocean County. The heavily traveled U.S. Route 206 was closed between the White Horse Pike (U.S. Route 30) in Hammonton and Atsion Lake (Shamong Township) after the fire jumped the roadway on the evening of the 21st. The roadway had sporadic closures, especially at night when the smoke became thicker, through the 25th.

About 200 fire fighters battled the blaze and used brush trucks, helicopters, bull dozers and air tankers in their efforts. Water was retreived from nearby Atsion Lake. The fire was considered twenty percent contained on the 21st, forty percent contained on the 22nd, fifty percent contained on the 23rd, seventy percent contained on the 24th, ninety percent contained on the 26th and fully contained on the morning of the 27th. A firefighter suffered an irregular heart beat from battling the blaze and one traffic cop was struck by a vehicle.

On the morning of the 24th, an atmospheric inversion caused by a nearby high pressure system trapped the smoke near the ground. This caused thick smoke with near zero visibilities to affect Hammonton (Atlantic County) and Winslow (Camden County). All Hammonton schools were closed and the White Horse Pike (U.S. Route 30) in Hammonton and Winslow was closed. The New Jersey Motor Vehicle inspection center was closed in Winslow. Several asthmatics were treated at Cooper Hospital.

Heavy rain on the 25th helped fire fighting efforts. The peak wind gusts at Atlantic City International Airport were 37 mph on the 21st and 35 mph on the 22nd. At Atlantic City International Airport (Prior to the 25th when 1.13 inches of rain fell.) only 0.16 of an inch of rain had fallen during the month of October.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 137574. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.