Jackson, New Jersey — A wildfire in a suburb of Philadelphia was threatening homes Thursday in what officials called the driest conditions in nearly 120 years.

The fire that broke out in Evesham and threatened 50 homes was brought under control in less than half the time in Jackson Township, about an hour away, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. There was no immediate estimate of the extent of the Evesham fire.

“This is the driest event we’ve ever had in the history of the department,” said Jeremy Webber, supervising fire chief at the Fire Department, which was founded in 1906.

The lack of significant rainfall since August has led to dry conditions, leading the state to impose strict restrictions on outdoor fires.

Details about the Evesham fire were scarce Thursday morning because the fire was reported recently. The fire department said the 50 homes under threat do not need to be evacuated yet.

The fire in Jackson, in the central New Jersey Pine Barrens, had grown to less than half a square mile (1.2 square kilometers) and was 40% contained as of mid-morning Thursday, incident commander Deale Carey said. fire service.

He said conditions were so dry that new fires were constantly starting as windblown leaves fell on burning or smoldering areas.

About 25 homes were evacuated near the Jackson fire, but residents were allowed to return Wednesday night.

Joann Bertone lives near that fire and said owners of the animals and horses scrambled to arrange trailers to move them to safety.

“It was extremely scary,” he said. “I was up all night. It was frustrating.”

The causes of both fires are being investigated.

Dry conditions have helped fuel several wildfires in New Jersey in recent weeks. Since Nov. 1, the state has seen 102 wildfires or wildfires burning less than one square mile (less than 2 square kilometers), the fire service said. The state has not seen any significant rain for over a month and this trend was expected to continue for at least the next few days.

Even the promised rain Sunday night through Monday isn’t expected to make much of a difference, Webber said.

“We’re going to need several inches of rain, not just one or two,” he said.

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