Seeing Smoke In Ocean County? Here’s Why

The sight of heavy smoke rising from the Pine Barrens always makes us here in Ocean County look twice, but this time of year it's not always a bad thing.

It's the season for "prescribed burns", where The New Jersey State Forestry Service sets controlled fires to clear high risk areas of underbrush and other wildfire risks.

The prescribed burn season can run until early April, depending on weather conditions and the need for them.

There are a number of prescribed burns going on today (Friday, March 13th). Click here for that info.

So, if you see smoke along the Parkway this time of year, no need to panic. But, of course if you see flames that look out of control and no officials in the area, it's never hurts to call the local fire department out of an abundance of caution.