NJ wildfire prompts evacuation orders for thousands as it explodes in size, closes part of Garden State Parkway

A raging wildfire broke out across 8,500 acres in New Jersey on Tuesday, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes and shuttering a large stretch of the state’s busiest highway.

Firefighters were battling the Jones Road Wildfire, which was burning over about 13 square miles, through the night after it broke out at 11 a.m. in Lacey and Ocean townships in Ocean County — utilizing fire engines, bulldozers, air support and ground crews, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.