After a worse-than-expected end to wildfire season in New Jersey last year, the state’s record drought may put it in a more precarious position for the 2025 wildfire season.

Most of the state remains in a severe or extreme drought, and the next wildfire season is expected to begin in mid-March.

In response, Gov. Phil Murphy and the Department of Environmental Protection have launched a new campaign, NJ Wildfire SMART (Safety, Mitigation, Awareness, Response, Training), which aims to pool information from state agencies about wildfire safety.

It will include “things like wild risk mapping, so that you can zero in on your home, your property, and see your level of fire risk, and then get important information and tips on what you can do to protect your home,” said DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette.

Murphy unveiled the campaign at a roundtable Thursday while speaking with mayors whose towns have been affected by wildfire and who offered suggestions on changes they would like to see from the state’s Forest Fire Service.

“I know money’s an issue, but a lot of the equipment is very old,” said Woodland Township Mayor William DeGroff. “I give you guys all the credit in the world, working with what they have.”

Woodbine Borough mayor Bill Pikolycky said, “I think that’s really important that we look at doing some controlled burning more, because I think that’s going to prevent [wildfires].”

The New Jersey’s Forest Fire Service aims to carry out prescribed burns on 25,000 acres each year. In 2024, they successfully burned 20,000 acres, but in years past they haven’t reached that goal.

“New Jersey’s rough,” said Forest Fire Service Chief William Donnelly. “You go from the burning season right into fire season. Some of the things that we want to burn aren’t necessarily state property. Folks may not necessarily support the idea of burning.”