The New Jersey Forest Fire service is still battling several wildfires and the National Weather Service has put the entire state under a “red flag warning.” As of Friday afternoon, four wildfires were actively burning in the state.
The good news, said New Jersey State Climatologist Dave Robinson, is that rain is possible this weekend.
Although the state’s historic drought could soon end, farmers remain worried about the ongoing risk of wildfires.
“The most recent wildfire was only about ten miles away from me,” said Douglas Kauffman, who has a farm in Farmingdale, Monmouth County. “I have some concerns that it could happen right here, and in my backyard,” he said.
Kauffman is a long-time vegetable grower and the pond that stores water for his crops is 4 feet lower than normal. While he said he has largely avoided the worst of the drought, he’s worried that his cover crop won’t germinate properly because of the dryness.
“For the fall, we’ve already mitigated [wildfires risk] by planting fall cover crops and having green foliage in the field. But this year, cover crops were planted in the Sahara Desert,” he said.
Kauffman Farms is located less than five miles from Manasquan Reservoir whose water level has dropped to a historic low due to the ongoing drought.
