A wildfire broke out in the Palisades Bluffs Forest near Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on the night of the 7th, burning more than 32 acres.
The New Jersey Forest Service announced on social media at around 7:30 a.m. on the 8th, “A wildfire broke out in the forest near the Palisades Interstate Parkway near Englewood Cliffs and as of 2:30 p.m. on the 8th, had spread to 39 acres and was about 30% contained.”
The Forest Service added that the wildfire was unlikely to spread further, and that no homes or buildings were damaged, and no people needed to be evacuated. The Forest Service used helicopters to spray 350 gallons of water and worked all day to suppress the fire.
Some roads, including Henry Hudson Drive, which runs through the forest, were closed for suppression work, and some lanes of the Palisades Interstate Parkway, which runs from the George Washington Bridge through northern New Jersey to Bear Mountain in New York, were closed for a while and then lifted.
The cause of this wildfire is still under investigation, but the dry weather that has continued for over a month is believed to be one of the factors.