Brush Fire Rages in N.J., Forcing A-Plant Shutdown
A brush fire raged out of control on 1,500 acres Sunday, forcing authorities to close a nuclear power plant and evacuate a senior citizens development.
Tom Tansley, a state fire warden, said the fire 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 each of northbound and southbound lanes of the parkway were closed and the nearby Pheasant Run senior citizen development was evacuated, Tansley said.
At least 75 state forest firefighters were battling the blaze along with local firefighters, he said.
The cause was not immediately determined, Tansley said.
Elsewhere in the region, about 50 miles east of Philadelphia, 10 brush fires were burning Sunday in a four-county area.
At Ft. Dix, five fire companies battled several fires that blackened at least 1,000 acres of firing range training areas. There were no injuries and no buildings were endangered, said Army Sgt. Brant Webb.
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