Local state of emergency in NJ as wildfire danger could get extreme

🔥 At least 6 major wildfires in New Jersey in the past week

🔥 Sunday night's rain didn't do much to help the drought conditions

🔥 The Jennings Creek fire is expected to burn for much of the week

Wildfire dangers continue to worsen in New Jersey with at least six major fires this week, including one that killed a high school senior just over the border in New York.

The Jennings Creek Wildfire in West Milford is 10% contained after burning over 3,000 acres in New Jersey and New York State as of Monday morning, according to the N.J. Forest Fire Service. Two residential structures are threatened in New Jersey with another eight structures in the Long Pond Ironworks Historic District state park in danger.

Mayor Michele Dale said a local state of emergency was declared in order to bring in resources. She said fire crews are expected to be battling the fire most of the week.

The West Milford Fire Department is looking for donations of water, Gatorade, Visine, baby wipes and snacks for firefighters

Wildfires in New Jersey

At least five other wildfires have burned in New Jersey in the past week:

• Englewood Cliffs, Bergen County
• Pompton Lakes, Passaic County
• Jackson Township, Ocean County
• Evesham and Voorhees townships, Burlington and Camden counties
• Glassboro, Gloucester County

The Cannonball 3 Wildfire in Pompton Lakes was been declared 100% contained on Sunday after burning 181 acres. As of Monday morning, there were no other major wildfires reported by the state Forest Fire Service.

New Jersey's largest wildfire this year was the Tea Time Hill wildfire. It consumed 4,300 acres of Wharton State Forest in Burlington County in July.

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Rain gives firefighters a break, clears air

New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow said the quarter-inch to half-inch of rain that fell Sunday night into Monday morning didn't break the drought. It did help to improve the air quality temporarily and to give firefighters a a break.

"It's a nice change of pace, but nowhere near the multiple-inch rainstorm we need to fully dig out of our serious rainfall deficit," Zarrow said. "Such meager totals do not solve our severe drought woes — but it will tamp down the fire danger for a day or two."

Zarrow said that wind gusts of 30 mph and a colder and drier air mass will ramp up the wildfire danger to extreme levels. The only chances of precipitation this week are some showers on Thursday and "something more substantial early next week."

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18-year-old dies

A GoFundMe page for the family of Dariel Vasquez, a New York State Parks and Recreation aide who died while helping with firefighting efforts. The 18-year-old was a senior and captain of the Ramapo High School baseball team. He was going to begin college in January.

Vasquez died when a tree fell on him in Sterling Forest in Greenwood Lake, New York, near the New Jersey border.

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