19-year-old charged with arson after bonfire sparks massive N.J. wildfire [View all]
Source: NJ.com
A man who authorities say didn’t properly extinguish a bonfire has been charged with starting a wildfire in Ocean County that has burned more than 15,000 acres.
Joseph W. Kling, 19, of the Waretown section of Ocean Township is charged with aggravated arson and arson, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said Thursday.
Investigators used Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine exactly where the fire started and later learned Kling set pallets on fire and left without fully extinguishing them.
The fire broke out about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday in the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust’s Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area east of Jones Road and had grown to about 15,000. It is 50% contained.
Read more: https://www.nj.com/ocean/2025/04/19-year-old-charged-with-arson-after-bonfire-sparks-massive-nj-wildfire.html
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