Another forest fire broke out in Shamong Township, Burlington County on Sunday, only days after several blazes burned through central and southern New Jersey. This is the sixth major New Jersey forest fire officials had to deal with in the past week.
"It looked like a bomb went off," said incident commander Robert Gill.
The fire broke out late Sunday morning in the Goshen Pond section of the Wharton State Forest on the border of Camden County and Burlington County.
Officials with the Department of Environmental Protection say the fire has burned through 900-plus acres.
By Monday morning the blaze was 80 percent contained.
Officials weren't expecting this many fires in a short period of time, but the previous fires had pre-burned areas that helped contain the most recent fire.
The fire is located in a remote area. So far no one was injured or evacuated.
The fire is the latest of several that have broken out recently in South Jersey. Another forest fire was reported Friday in the Wharton State Forest in Shamong Township that burned 50 acres within a half hour.
A blaze in Berkeley Township burned more than 300 acres and forced hundreds of evacuations on Thursday. A fire that burned more than 1,500 acres in Downe Township in Cumberland County also broke out on Wednesday.
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Nearly 2,200 acres of forest had already burned in New Jersey as of April 20, more than three times last year's total through that day.
