Firefighters Continue to Battle Forest Fire in Little Egg Harbor

Lots of people smelled the smoke, but many are living with the nightmare of fire barrelling down on their homes.

A fire broke out Sunday in the Bass River State Forest, hitting Little Egg Harbor Township. The blaze, being fought by dozens, if not hundreds of firefighters, has forced the closing of parts of Route 9 in Southern Ocean County. Many families have evacuated their homes from the fire and smoke.

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Scenes from the fire scene have been unimaginable.

A couple of weeks without significant rainfall has allowed the fire to spread.

Late Sunday night, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service described the fire as a "70-acre wildfire in an area west of Otis Bog Road and south of Stage Road in Little Egg Harbor Township, Ocean County and in Burlington County."

At that time, firefighters were calling at least 100 structures "at risk." The forest fire service says Pinelands Middle School is set up as a shelter for those who have evacuated.

News crews from throughout the area have been covering the fire:

SOURCE: New Jersey Forest Fire Service

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.