A 19 -year -old has been arrested on suspicion of starting a massive forest fire of New Jersey who has consumed at least 15,000 acres and continued to burn on Thursday, authorities said.
In a statement issued on Thursday morning, New Jersey officials, including Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer, announced the arrest of Joseph Kling of Waretown, New Jersey, for aggravated fireonal fires in relation to the forest fire that was lit early on Tuesday.
Kling was arrested after the investigators determined that the fire was “incendiary for an appropriate bonfire,” according to the statement.
The Jones Road’s forest fire was seen for the first time around 9:45 am on Tuesday in the Greenwood Wildlife Management Area near Waretown, authorities said.
The smoke fills the sky of a forest fire in Lacey Townships, NJ on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.
NAM Y. HUH/New Jersey Environmental Protection Department through AP
Driven by the vegetation devastated by drought, the advantageous winds and low relative humidity, the fire spread rapidly through the pines of the wildlife zone, jumped through the busy route of the Garden State Park and threatened around 1,300 structures at one time, firefighters said.
According to officials, at least 5,000 people attended mandatory evacuation orders or voluntarily evacuated.
The authorities said the researchers tracked the origin of the fire to Waretown.
“Additional investigation has revealed that Kling was the individual responsible for burning wooden pallets, and then leaving the area without the fire being completely extinguished,” they said in the statement.
Kling was arrested at the Ocean Township police headquarters in Waretown, authorities said.
It was not clear immediately what led the authorities to suspect that Kling was involved in the fire.
Kling was reserved in the Ocean County prison, where he is currently lodging a detention hearing.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Shawn Latourette, Commissioner for the Protection of the Environment of New Jersey, praised firefighters for “really avoiding a great disaster.”
Although a commercial building was destroyed and several cabins were damaged, the authorities said that houses have not been lost and that no injuries have been reported.
The Jones Road’s forest fire continued to burn on Thursday. The fire has burned at least 15,000 acres and was contained in 50% on Thursday morning, according to the Fire Service.
Fire is expected to grow as dry conditions, winds and low humidity help the fire activity, according to the New Jersey forest fire service.
The sun rises through the mist behind the bass Manhattan created by smoke of forest fires in New Jersey, on April 24, 2025 in New York City.
Gary Hershorn/ABC News
With the ongoing fire and the winds that change north, the authorities expect part of the smoke from forest fires to reach New York City and Long Island. The Environmental Conservation Department of New York issued a warning of air quality on Thursday morning that will remain in force until midnight.
“It is predicted that the air quality levels in the outer air are greater than a value of the air quality index of 100 for the fine particle pollutant,” the agency said in a statement.
According to the air quality index, anything more than 100 for contaminants and fine particles in the air is considered unhealthy, especially for people sensitive to the effects of high levels of pollutants, including children and adults with respiratory problems prior to the existing one.
The winds are expected to move away from the night of New York and Long Island night, but they could change on Friday, bringing smoke from forest fires to the region.
