A 19-year-old Waretown man has been arrested and charged with aggravated arson in connection with the so-named Jones Road fire in Ocean County that consumed more than 15,000 acres of woodlands, authorities said.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced April 23 that Joseph Kling also was charged with arson for the fire, which started in Waretown and spread throughout the southern Ocean County area and destroyed a commercial building.
The Cedar Bridge Fire Tower first spotted a column of smoke coming from the area of Jones Road and Bryant Road in Ocean Township on April 22 at about 9:45 a.m. Upon arrival, emergency personnel found a fire within the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust’s Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area, which is on the east side of Jones Road.
Map of the fire containment area in Waretown and Lacey townships.
An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office’s Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, the Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office and New Jersey State Fire Marshal’s Office plotted the origin of the fire via GPS. The cause was determined to be an improperly extinguished bonfire.
Further investigation revealed that Kling was responsible for setting fire to wooden pallets and then leaving the area without the fire’s being fully extinguished.
He was taken into custody at Ocean Township police headquarters and transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he is lodged pending a detention hearing.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
