The statement below is by Commissioner Jonathan Young regarding the impacts on the air quality in Camden County from the still burning wildfires from Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024.
Throughout Camden County this morning residents may have woken up to the smell of smoke and seen small flickers of ash from the handful of wildfires currently burning throughout South Jersey. The Camden County Office of Emergency Management has been monitoring the fire events through their peers in the surrounding counties and the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. In addition, we deployed assets from the Department of Public Safety to assist firefighting at the Bethany Run wildfire burning on the Voorhees and Evesham border last week. The 360-acre event was contained this weekend, but wildfires continue to burn throughout the state most notably a 2,500-acre fire in West Milford that is currently 0% contained. Nevertheless, these fires are not, for the most part physically near us but the wind has carried some of the smell and ash our way.
The state has been under a drought watch since Oct. 17 and we are currently in a historic period of time experiencing no rainfall since September. Hopefully, that will come to end today and help to disperse the smoke in the atmosphere and provide an overdue assist to the brave members of the state Forest Fire Service and all of the local fire departments supporting them.
That said, depending on the force and trajectory of the wind, residents may continue to smell more smoke during the shifting atmospheric conditions. Based on that, know that the source of the forest fire is not threatening homes and that Camden County is not under any threat. We will continue to monitor this situation and update the public if more pertinent information is relayed back to us from our partners.
For all of our neighbors that have respiratory conditions, please limit your time outdoors and keep your windows closed during this time.
