Rare Autumn Drought in Northeast Brings a Spate of Wildfires
The New York Times
Hundreds of fires are burning in New Jersey and Connecticut as the region experiences a spell of unusually warm fall weather.
The unseasonably balmy weather throughout the Northeast in recent weeks, however pleasant, has stirred some of the driest drought conditions in recent memory, leaving New Jersey and Connecticut vulnerable to hundreds of wildfires.
In New Jersey, 377 wildfires have burned over 628 acres since Sept. 15, a jump from 26 wildfires with only about seven acres consumed over the same period last year. State authorities have not reported any injuries from the fires.
In Connecticut, where Gov. Ned Lamont has declared a state of emergency, there have been 84 wildfires since Oct. 21, an increase from five over the same period in 2023. The largest fire this fall, a 127-acre blaze about 15 miles south of Hartford, injured six people and killed one firefighter.
People are usually the cause of wildfires, whether intentionally or by accident, a spokesman for New Jersey’s Forest Fire Service said. The fires in the state are under investigation, he added. Officials in Connecticut did not comment on possible causes.
“We have never experienced conditions like this,” said Bill Donnelly, chief of New Jersey’s Forest Fire Service. “It’s so dry, the fires are burning down into the ground and are continuing to smoke.”
Having multiple wildfires might seem surprising for the Northeast, where rainfall averages are increasing and flooding poses a constant threat. But climate change can produce unpredictable weather patterns, said David Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist and a geography professor at Rutgers University.
