New Jersey, 2001

Wildfire in New Jersey, June 10 to 11, 2001

June 10 to 11, 2001 · NWS PHI · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A wildfire, started by a twenty-five pound practice bomb, burned about 1,600 acres of pygmy pines before it was placed under control. The fire threatened, but never damaged, homes in the Warren Grove area of Ocean County.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 PHI wrote it up.

A wildfire, started by a twenty-five pound practice bomb, burned about 1,600 acres of pygmy pines before it was placed under control. The fire threatened, but never damaged, homes in the Warren Grove area of Ocean County. The fire was first spotted about 245 p.m. EDT on the 10th. The warm, dry and windy conditions that day helped spread the fire quickly. It burned along the pygmy pine trees near County Route 539 in both Bass River (Burlington County) and Stafford Townships. The county route as well as Exit 58 of the Garden State Parkway were closed for several hours during the afternoon and early evening of the 10th. The fire threatened about 70 homes in the Warren Grove area of Stafford Township (Ocean County). It was contained at County Route 539 before it reached the homes the evening of the 10th and was under control the morning of the 11th. About 1,600 acres were burned, mainly pygmy pine trees on state and federal land south of New Jersey State Route 72 and west of County Route 539.

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 Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 10, 7:55 AM EST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 10, 7:55 AM EST, 5 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
855 AM EDT SUN JUN 10 2001

WILL ISSUE A QUICK UPDATE TO ACCOUNT FOR PCPN ASSOCIATED WITH A
SHORT WAVE MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL PA AT THIS TIME. EXPECT A LITTLE
MORE CLOUDINESS THAN PREVIOUSLY ANTICIPATED FROM THIS FEATURE WITH A
CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN OUR NORTHERN ZONES AND SOME SPRINKLES POSSIBLE
IN THE PHILA METRO AREA AND ADJACENT COUNTIES OF SOUTHERN NJ. AM
ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT TSRW/S BEGINNING TO SHOW UP ON RADAR IN WESTERN
PA WHICH COULD PRODUCE SAME THING HERE LATER THIS AFTN.

REST OF FCST LOOKS GOOD.

********************************************************************

WILL CONT THE CURRENT THINK WITH H5 S/W DROPPING THRU THE FA AND
SPREADING A CHANCE  OF SHOWERS MON & EARLY MON NGT. MAIN ACT SHLD
REMAIN TO OUR N. ATMOS WILL CONT SLOW WARMUP WITH INCREASE IN
HUMIDITY INTO MID WEEK.

MARINE REMAINS QUIET.

.PHI...NONE.
6
ZEV

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Burlington

When
June 10, 1:30 PM EST to June 11, 11:00 AM EST
Where
Burlington County, 5 mi NE of Wading River
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.878, -74.668 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, Ocean

When
June 10, 1:30 PM EST to June 11, 11:00 AM EST
Where
Ocean County, 1 mi W of Warren Grove
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.866, -74.250 (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, June 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: 5255178, 5255179.