New Jersey Teen Arrested For Allegedly Starting Massive Wildfire

A New Jersey teenager is facing arson charges for allegedly sparking the wildfire that began April 22 and has since burned some 15,000 acres, officials said.

Joseph Kling, 19, of Ocean Township, was arrested Wednesday and charged with arson and aggravated arson for allegedly lighting a bonfire with wooden pallets in the Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area and not properly putting it out, leading it to burn out of control.

At around 9:45 a.m. on April 22, a column of smoke was spotted in the area of Jones Road and Bryant Road in Ocean Township. As of Thursday, the fire has burned 15,000 acres in Waretown and Lacey Townships, prompting widespread evacuations, and has destroyed at least one commercial building, officials said.

The Ocean County Prosecutors Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, New Jersey Forest Fire Service, Ocean County Fire Marshals Office, and New Jersey State Fire Marshals Office investigated the cause of the fire, and found it had started with an improperly extinguished bonfire.

Kling was was being held in Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said.

According to the latest update from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, the fire is 50% contained. No injuries have been reported, and all evacuation orders have been lifted.