New Jersey, 2001

Wildfire in New Jersey, April 29, 2001

April 29, 2001 · NWS OKX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A large brush fire began around 6:40 pm on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, Hudson County and extended into marsh lands along Routes 495 and 3 into Secaucus. Heavy smoke caused several road closures and disrupted both Amtrak and New Jersey Transit train service between New York City and Newark from 7:20 pm to 10:00 pm EDT.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS OKX wrote it up.

A large brush fire began around 6:40 pm on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, Hudson County and extended into marsh lands along Routes 495 and 3 into Secaucus. Heavy smoke caused several road closures and disrupted both Amtrak and New Jersey Transit train service between New York City and Newark from 7:20 pm to 10:00 pm EDT. Antecedent conditions were dry with low relative humidity and breezy. Around one third of an inch of rainfall occurred during the previous 2 weeks.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 29, 2:29 PM EST, 3 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 29, 2:29 PM EST, 3 hours 11 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
329 PM EDT SUN APR 29 2001

RIDGE REMAINS OVR THE AREA THRU THE PD...RIFTING OFF THE MID ATLC
TONIGHT. ATMOSPHERE REMAINS DRY AND NOT EXPECTED CLOUDS TO FORM.
WITH LIGHT WINDS AND TEMPS INTO THE 60S TODAY AND 70S MONDAY SEA
BREEZES WL SET UP DURING THE AFTN. WITH THE RIDGE BLDG EAST MUCH
WARMER AIR MOVG INTO THE AREA FOR TUE AND WED.

MARINE...NO PROBLEMS WITH WIND OR SEAS THRU THE PD.

.OKX...
CT...RIVER FLOOD WARNG FOR CT RIVER...CTZ007-011 (ISSUED BY BOS).
NJ...NONE.
NY...NONE.
MARINE...NONE.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Hudson

When
April 29, 5:40 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Hudson County, North Bergen
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
40.731, -74.076 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Wildfire
A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Jersey in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5239867.