Images taken by a NASA satellite this week reveal the worrying extent of a fast-moving wildfire in southern New Jersey.
Taken during the fire’s second day, the images capture plumes of smoke and scorched terrain from the fire that’s burned 15,300 acres to date.
New Jersey’s Pine Barrens are no stranger to fire—pitch pines actually need occasional burns to thrive. But when drought meets dense development, a natural cycle can turn dangerously destructive. This week, when a wildfire ignited in a wildlife management area near Waretown, New Jersey, and quickly grew into one of the state’s largest fires in decades.
NASA’s Landsat 9 captured the blaze—dubbed the Jones Road Fire—on April 23 using its OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2). In natural-color views (below, at left), thick smoke billows from the fires southwards, with the coastline visible to the east. But more insights are gleaned from the satellite’s false-color imagery—a combo of shortwave infrared, near-infrared, and visible light that lets scientists distinguish between scorched land (brown), vegetation (green), and human infrastructure. The false-color images (below, at right), reveal just how much of New Jersey has burned underneath the thick smoke.
The fire forced mass evacuations in Ocean and Lacey townships, and briefly shut down the Garden State Parkway, both sandwiched between the fires and the water. Smoke also drifted toward New York City, showcasing how a localized problem can swiftly become a regional issue. As of 10 a.m. Eastern Time today, the fire is 60% contained.
The fire’s ferocity didn’t come out of nowhere. Earlier this month, NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE-FO satellites had already flagged “anomalously dry” conditions in the area, according to an Earth Observatory release. The U.S. Drought Monitor echoed that warning, classifying the region’s conditions as “severe” just before the fire erupted.
This blaze is a sharp reminder that the Pine Barrens’ ecology is delicate; even though the environment needs occasional wildfires, human development means that the natural blazes can quickly become serious threats. Droughts can further exacerbate the issue. As wildfires grow more intense and less predictable, watching them from space may be the only way to see the full picture.
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