By Jeff Heilbrun
OCEAN COUNTY – In April there was a 200 acre wildfire less than one half mile from the River Pointe main gate. It was bordered by Ridgeway Boulevard, a small branch of the Toms River, the unused NJ Central Railroad tracks, and the Eastern Pallet Company. Last year a wildfire in Lakehurst consumed six square miles, was two miles from River Pointe and caused ash to fall throughout our development.
We are fortunate to live in the Pinelands National Reserve – the largest tract of open space between Boston and Richmond. Toms River and Lakewood are not in the Reserve. Much of Jackson and even large sections of Manchester are not in this protected, relatively pristine environment.
Living in an area that is considered at least partially rural and inhabited by large swathes of pine trees does have a dangerous characteristic – the possibility of wildfires. The predominant tree, the pitch pine, is not only highly flammable because of its resin, but it only reproduces when heat opens its cones enabling the scales to break apart and eventually germinate.
Since only 2022 the second of July has been a day dedicated to the men and women who battle these blazes – National Wildland Firefighter Day. The purpose of this day is to show appreciation to the men and women who risk their lives to fight wildland or forest fires, protecting natural resources, property and lives.
The day was established through the efforts of the Board of the National Interagency Fire Center. The federal agencies represented on this Board include the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service and the US Forest Service. However, wildland firefighters – besides working for federal departments – can also be employed by state or local governments. National Wildland Firefighter Day seeks to honor not only the people who fight wildland fires but also those who have lost their lives in the line of duty. It is celebrated at this time of the year because it falls in July during the Week of Remembrance for Fire Safety.
Wildland firefighters respond to nearly 63,000 fires every year across the U.S. Factors such as drought and fires in wildland-populated areas have led to increasingly complex and challenging firefighting activity that starts earlier in the year and lasts later into the fall. A primary method to prevent damaging wildfires, especially in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, is the controlled or prescribed burn. This is the practice of intentionally setting fire to low, dry, decaying underbrush to minimize burn material that could fuel a dangerous hotter fire.
The term prescribed burn is relatively new since many controlled burns, especially in the west got out of control. Virtually all the smoke that residents of River Pointe can smell late winter and early spring are from these prescribed burns. Sadly, it is estimated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by humans, whether intentionally or unintentionally. It was 1947 when the US Forest Service and Smokey the Bear said “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.” In 2001 his wording changed to the more encompassing “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires.”
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