Authorities investigating the cause and origin of the Oct. 30 blaze "located evidence that identified this fire as an arson," the Evesham Township Police said Wednesday.

Summary

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with aggravated arson for allegedly starting a wildfire on Oct. 30, 2024, in Evesham Township, New Jersey.

The fire burned 52 acres over several days but caused no structural damage. Authorities identified the teen through evidence after an extensive investigation. He was arrested on Nov. 7 and is in juvenile detention.

Police are also investigating if the teen is linked to a Nov. 7 fire in the same area that burned 375 acres. Drought conditions and high fire danger have impacted the Northeast in recent weeks.

  • aramis87@fedia.io
    11·
    14 hours ago

    New Jersey is in one of the worst droughts of the last 120 years. I’m not sure how many wildfires they’ve been fighting recently (it’s a lot); I know there have been over 200 brushfires in New York City in just the past couple weeks.

    What’s scary is this 2016 column from Rolling Stone, titled Will America’s Worst Wildfire Disaster Happen in New Jersey?:

    […] the single most destructive blaze in U.S. history could occur in the Northeast […] The Pine Barrens is the lone island of contiguous forest [between Richmond and Boston] [covering a 1.1-million-acre tract in southern New Jersey].

    Whereas regular fires used to thin out the Pinelands, large swaths have remained relatively untouched for decades due to strict preservation laws. The result is a giant tinderbox of untended woods that’s surrounded by 100,000-person suburbs. A Wildfire Risk Assessment published by New Jersey compared the Pinelands to “an inch of gasoline covering all of south and central New Jersey.”

    • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
      2·
      4 hours ago

      There’s been so many my work area… Like I’m regularly going home with ash coating my car. Take it in for a wash, it’s coated again the next day. We’re in desperate need of some rain here or the whole area’s gonna go up.