Smokey Edison, NJ wildfire contained in industrial area, 35 workers evacuated

EDISON — A wildfire in an industrial area that created heavy smoke visible from the New Jersey Turnpike was fully contained early Tuesday evening.

The fire broke out off Meadow Road in Edison around 11:30 a.m. in an area formerly known as the Kin-Buc landfill, according to the Township of Edison. Firefighters from Edison and the New Jersey Forest Fire Service worked together to get the fire that consumed 59 acres contained by 6 p.m.

Edison Police Captain Ken Schreck said 35 people working at a warehouse on Sawmill Road were evacuated when smoke began coming in through the ventilation system.

“No one is sick,” Schreck said in a statement. “But we don’t want them breathing in any smoke.”

Smokey conditions lingered for several hours as crews remained on the scene watching for hot spots.

Cause of the fire

The state Forest Fire Service is continuing its investigation into the cause of the fire but Edison's Office of Emergency Management coordinator Andy Toth said dry conditions played a role.

“We don’t suspect any suspicious activity at this time. It’s really dry today; it was likely started by the sun igniting some brush," Toth said in a statement.

Two much larger wildfires burned in Atlantic and Ocean counties in June.

The Brickworks Fire burned 315 acres in the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest in Manchester and Woodland Townships on June 26. A week earlier a wildfire torched 13,500 acres in the Wharton State Forest, the state's largest fire in the past 15 years.

Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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