N.J. Fire Forces A-Plant to Close
A brush fire blackened 5,000 acres, forcing the closure of a nuclear power plant and the evacuation of a senior citizens development before it was contained Sunday.
Tom Tansley, a state fire warden, said the blaze began in a dry wooded area and quickly spread across the Garden State Parkway toward the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station.
More than 10 miles of northbound and southbound lanes of the parkway were closed and the nearby Pheasant Run senior citizen development was evacuated, Tansley said.
Firefighters surrounded the blaze late Sunday, and the highway was reopened. Later, a section of the northbound side was closed again because of downed power lines.
Oyster Creek spokesman Keith Bromery said the plant was not endangered because the flames did not advance past its 100-yard-wide water intake canal.
Almost 200 residents of Pheasant Run gathered at the recreation center of a nearby church.
The fire’s cause was not immediately known, Tansley said.
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