Thousands evacuate as fire spreads in US state of New Jersey

New York: Some 3,000 residents were evacuated in the US state of NewJerseyafter a wildfire exploded in size, scorching thousands of acres and threaten...

New York: Some 3,000 residents were evacuated in the US state of New Jersey after a wildfire exploded in size, scorching thousands of acres and threatening hundreds of structures, the state's fire service said Tuesday.

As of 10:30 pm (0230 GMT) the Jones Road Wildfire was raging across Ocean County and was 10 percent contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said in a post on social media platform X.

It put the size of the blaze at 8,500 acres (3,440 hectares), just two hours after reporting the fire had hit 3,200 acres.

The fire service said "numerous" fire and rescue personnel had been deployed along with fire engines, bulldozers and ground crews.

It said the cause of the fire was "under investigation."