Recent wildfires that tore through hundreds of acres of woodland throughout Burlington County were likely started by lightning strikes, the New Jersey Forest Service recently found.
Earlier this month, a pair of wildfires -- one in Evesham Township, known as the Buzby Boggs Wildfire and another fire in the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest in Browns Mills, dubbed the Acorn Hill Wildfire -- burned hundreds of acres of forest in the New Jersey Pinelands, threatening several structures.
After some investigation, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said Tuesday that both fires were started by natural causes, not human error or intervention.
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Yet, the service noted that these types of wildfires are fairly rare, with only 1% of all wildfires in the Garden State to be caused by lightning strikes.
The fire service noted online that, after a lightning strike, fires can burn within trees "for several days before escaping into the surrounding vegetation."
"This occurrence is known as a 'holdover fire,' and is what led to the Acorn Hill Wildfire in Woodland Twp after a storm passed through the area on Friday, June 16," the service noted online. "Dry lightning ignited the Flatiron Wildfire shortly after a storm passed through Medford Twp on Friday, June 3."
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Officials said that they will continue to investigate other recent wildfires that have occurred throughout the state.
