New Jersey’s Kanouse wildfire now 95% contained in West Milford: officials

New Jersey officials reported that the North Jersey Kanouse wildfire is nearly completely contained, as West Milford reels from the largest wildfire in New Jersey since 2010.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) reported that crews successfully reinforced containment lines in West Milford Township on Friday, bringing the containment percentage to 95%. 

The forest is currently 972-acres in size. It is the largest fire in North Jersey since 2010.

“Ground crews made excellent progress addressing burning dead trees threatening containment lines across the area of the fire,” NJFFS’s Facebook post read Friday night. 

NEBRASKA WILDFIRE BURNS THROUGH 650 ACRES OF LAND ALONG MISSOURI RIVER

“Containment is expected to continue as crews work overnight,” the organization added.

Officials say that no structures are currently threatened and all evacuation orders have been lifted. Hours before, officials reported that 10 structures – nine residential and one commercial – were threatened.

NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR SIGNS BILL TO PROHIBIT PRESCRIBED BURNS AS FOREST MANAGEMENT IN RESPONSE TO 2022 DISASTER

Portions of Echo Lake Road are still closed, as weakened and dead trees pose a hazard to drivers.

Officials say that environmental factors are contributing to harmful wildfires across the state, including one in Manchester Township in Ocean County.

“We’ve got really warm conditions, we’ve got a changing climate, we’ve got the impact of these invasive plants and insects – all of that coming together to kind of exacerbate to what we typically would expect as of normal fire conditions here in the oak-hickory forest,” New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection assistant commissioner John Cecil said, according to FOX 5 New York.