A fast-moving wildfire burning in New Jersey has forced thousands of people to evacuate, closed a stretch of a main highway and reached a shuttered nuclear power plant.
Flames from the Jones Road wildfire in Ocean County had reached buildings on the campus of the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, according to the local Lakewood Scoop newspaper.
The fire had grown rapidly to encompass 3,440 hectares (8,500 acres) and was only 10% contained, according to the New Jersey Forest fire service.
It said Garden State Parkway, one of New Jersey’s busiest highways, was closed between Barnegat and Lacey townships, and more than 1,300 structures were threatened and about 3,000 people had been evacuated. Shelters were open at two high schools, according to the Barnegat police department.
The Jersey Central Power and Light Company cut power to about 25,000 customers at the request of the fire service and the wildfire’s command post on Tuesday evening, including thousands in Barnegat township. The company said on X that it did not expect to restore power before Wednesday.
“This is for the safety of crews battling the fire,” the company said.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
People head into an evacuation shelter at Southern Regional high school near Stafford, New Jersey. Photograph: Chris Szagola/AP
Debi Schaffer was caught in gridlocked traffic after evacuating with her two dogs while her husband agreed to stay with their 22 chickens, the Press of Atlantic City reported.
Around her Waretown house it was “like a war zone”, she said, describing smoke, sirens and the buzz of helicopters.
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The site of the fire is near an alpaca farm. The farm said in a Facebook post that the property was not threatened and all of the animals were safe.
The blaze is the second major forest fire in the region in less than a week.
Associated Press contributed to this report
