CNN
By Taylor Romine, Taylor Ward and Mary Gilbert, CNN
(CNN) — Weather conditions are improving Wednesday as firefighters continue to battle a large wildfire that burned more than 8,500 acres in southern New Jersey on Tuesday, prompted more than 3,000 evacuations and briefly shut down part of the Garden State Parkway.
The fire started in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management Area of Ocean County Tuesday morning and 10% has been contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. The cause is under investigation.
Acting New Jersey Gov. Tahesha Way declared a state of emergency for Ocean County due to the wildfire Wednesday morning. “At this time, we have no loss of life and no homes have been harmed,” Way said in a post on X.
No injuries have been reported, but several businesses in an industrial park in Lacey Township have burned, Ocean County Undersheriff Jon Lombardi told CNN.
Mandatory evacuation orders were in effect Tuesday for parts of Lacey and Ocean townships. The orders were rescinded Wednesday morning as conditions improved, Donna Flynn, Ocean County Public Information Director, told CNN.
The portion of the Garden State Parkway, a main artery in the state, that was closed Tuesday reopened early Wednesday morning, according to county officials.
Some power lines were proactively de-energized near the fire Tuesday evening at the request of the state’s forest fire service, affecting about 25,000 customers, according to Jersey Central Power and Light. Just over 25,000 homes and businesses remained without power Wednesday morning, according to PowerOutage.us.
Thick, black clouds filled the sky Tuesday, prompting a public health advisory in the county as air quality worsened. Some buildings appear to have already been burnt as firefighters work to protect structures, aerials from CNN affiliate WPVI show.
The smoke wasn’t too bad at first, Giana Nicholas told CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey, but it quickly escalated and forced her family to evacuate.
“Eventually as the night went on, smoke flooded the streets,” she said.
The fire comes as New Jersey is under an official drought warning, with “well-below average precipitation throughout the winter,” the state said in a news release last month. Approximately 7,000 acres of New Jersey’s forests are burnt each year, with Tuesday’s fire surpassing the yearly average.
While wildfires aren’t as common as in other areas of the country, the region is no stranger to the phenomenon. The Jennings Creek Fire burned several thousand acres in New Jersey and New York in November, prompting heavy response from both states.
Winds Tuesday afternoon consistently gusted between 15 and 25 mph. Dry weather is expected for the remainder of the week, but light winds of 5 to 10 mph should help fire crews make progress on containment. Showers will arrive late Friday night and continue through much of Saturday.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Christine Sever and Julianna Bragg contributed to this report.
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