JACKSON, NJ — A wildfire continues to burn for a third day in the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area but firefighters are gaining control, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said Friday.

The Shotgun Wildfire had consumed about 350 acres in the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area, the service said in an update Friday morning. That acreage was unchanged from a 6:30 p.m. update Thursday. It is now 80 percent contained, and there are no longer any structures considered threatened, the forest fire service said.

The forest fire service typically names wildfires based on the location; the Shotgun Wildfire was in close proximity to the Central Jersey Rifle and Pistol Club, on the west side of South Stump Tavern Road.

The fire is one of three burning south of Interstate 195 on Friday. A fire burning on the Evesham-Voorhees border in Burlington County was at 360 acres, and one burning in Glassboro in Gloucester County was at 133 acres.

New Jersey is under a red flag warning on Friday as conditions are ripe for wildfires with extreme drought conditions and windy conditions.

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There had been 25 structures threatened and multiple homes evacuated when the fire off South Stump Tavern Road first was seen at 12:17 p.m. Wednesday, but those evacuations were lifted Wednesday night.

South Stump Tavern Road remains closed from Route 571, also known as Toms River Road, to Route 528, Veterans Highway. The fire was burning west of the road and had been prevented Wednesday from crossing to the east side, which had been one of the service's goals, Deale Carey, the forest fire service's incident commander and the area firewarden, said Wednesday evening.

As of Thursday evening, six homes on the west side of the road remain listed as threatened by the fire. They had been subject to mandatory evacuations but Carey said the forest fire service used bulldozers to create burn rings to protect them.

Efforts to complete the fireline needed to reach 100 percent containment continue, officials said. The fireline is dug into the soil to create a physical break along the forest floor between the fire and brush, leaves and twigs that would keep it burning.

Firefighters then set backfires inside the fireline to burn off fuel and stop the progress of a wildfire, the forest fire service says.

Smoke will continue to be thick in the area for a while because the area burning west of South Stump Tavern Road has not been touched by a fire since 1963, Carey said. That means there is lots of fuel — leaves, brush, dead branches, pine needles — to burn and send smoke billowing into the air.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Crews continued to make progress Thursday as they worked to contain a massive forest fire in Ocean County that swelled to roughly 300 acres in size after breaking out the previous afternoon, fire officials said.

The fire in Jackson Township was 40% contained as of roughly 9:50 a.m. Thursday, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. Six structures remained under threat from the blaze.

The size and intensity of the ‘Shotgun’ fire, as it has been nicknamed, prompted crews to respond with a backfire operation, strategically burning fuel in the fire’s path to slow its progress and assist with containment efforts.

The residents of more than a dozen homes along Stump Tavern Road who were ordered to evacuate after the fire was first reported Wednesday afternoon were allowed to return by 9 p.m. that evening.

Stump Tavern Road remained closed from Route 571 to Route 528 Thursday morning, officials said. Another update is expected at 6:30 p.m.

Another fire in southern New Jersey broke out separately Thursday morning, threatening as many as 50 structures in Evesham Township in Burlington County. The causes of both blazes remain under investigation.

A recent run of extremely dry weather, record temperatures and strong gusty winds across New Jersey has sparked concerns about fire safety. The Forest Fire Service responded to 507 fire incidents in October, it said this week.

Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration announced a statewide drought watch on Oct. 17, urging residents to conserve water. The last such watch took place from August to December in 2022.

In late October, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection issued a Stage 3 fire ban, its highest level of restrictions, which prohibits the lighting of any open fires in or around wooded areas across the state.

“When conditions become this dry, the simplest things can start a wildfire,” Bill Donnelly, the Forest Fire Service’s chief, said as the Stage 3 restrictions were announced. “In my 30-year career with the Forest Fire Service, I can’t recall a time when we faced such a prolonged period of dry weather with no relief in sight.”

Many areas of New Jersey — including the cities of Newark, Trenton and Atlantic City – have had no significant rain since August.

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AJ McDougall may be reached at amcdougall@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on X at @oldmcdougall.

The historic ship docked in Philadelphia destined to become the world’s largest artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico is leaving the city late next week, its departure resulting in the temporary closure of three major bridges between Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

On Nov. 15, for the first in 30 years, the SS United States will travel the Delaware River to the Atlantic Ocean beginning a roughly two week journey to Mobile, Alabama. Once there, it will be prepared to be scuttled.

Okaloosa County, Florida, last month purchased the shipto repurpose it as an artificial reef, making it an addition to the panhandle’s seabed to grow the area’s diving tourism.

Workers will swing the ship from its current mooring at Pier 82 in Philadelphia to Pier 80 on Nov. 14, where it will stay there overnight until low tide the following day, which is forecast for 6:59 a.m. The Walt Whitman and Commodore Barry bridges will be closed as the ship is towed out to sea, Okaloosa County officials announced Wednesday.

The bridges between Philadelphia and South Jersey are managed by the Delaware River Port Authority. The transportation agency said no plans were in place to fully close the bridges but said traffic would likely be stopped briefly.

“This measure will be taken as a safety precaution and to minimize driver distraction, agency officials told NJ Advance Media. The exact timing and expected duration will be announced as plans finalize and the move date approaches, giving motorists ample time to plan their travel accordingly.”

The ship will lastly pass under the Delaware Memorial Bridge, but traffic isn’t expected to be halted, said a spokesperson for the Delaware River Bay Authority, which manages the structure.

It was unclear if the closures would be done simultaneously or once the ship reaches each bridge.

The departure plan is subject to change, officials said, and those interested in tracking the ship’s progress can do so online.

Engineers note they have to move the vessel at low tide to allow it to pass under the three bridges. The ship’s route along the Delaware takes it through busy shipping lanes. The Cape May-Lewes Ferry also runs daily crossings between Lower Cape May and Delaware. Trips won’t be altered to accommodate the SS United States, Bay Authority officials said.

The United States, branded “America’s Flagship” during her run on the now-defunct United States Lines, has been docked in Philadelphia since 1996. Members of the SS United States Conservancy, a nonprofit that’s been the ship’s guardian since 2011, and Florida officials last month gathered on board the ship last month to formally approve its sale.

Officials expect the ship to spend about a year at the Alabama dock to prepare it for becoming an artificial reef.

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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.