Overview

• Authorities have arrested a 17-year-old suspect, charging them with arson, aggravated arson, and hindering apprehension in connection to the Jones Road Wildfire.
• The wildfire, which began on April 22 in Ocean Township, has burned over 15,000 acres in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens.
• The fire is now approximately 65% contained, with firefighting efforts continuing despite challenging dry and windy conditions.
• Joseph Kling, a 19-year-old previously arrested in connection with the wildfire, had his detention hearing delayed to Friday afternoon.
• Officials have called the blaze New Jersey’s second-worst wildfire in two decades, surpassed only by a 2007 fire that burned 26 square miles.