Fifty-five years ago — on
April 20, 1963 — New Jersey's biggest forest fire disaster laid waste to
much of South Jersey, fueled by drought and winds gusting to 40 mph.
Dubbed Black Saturday, it was actually the start of dozens of fires concentrated in Atlantic, Ocean and Burlington counties.
The
fires covered about 190,000 acres, 4 percent of New Jersey’s land
base. They killed seven people and destroyed hundreds of buildings with
an estimated value of $8.5 million, in a time when the population of the
area was a fraction of what it is now. Many of the fires were traced
back to people burning debris.
“All
hell broke lose in Atlantic County,” said Carl Owen, 75, who at the
time was a young volunteer firefighter with the Mays Landing Fire
Company.
The April 22,
1963 front page of The Press of Atlantic City reported four fires were
still out of control Sunday night in rural Hammonton, the
Nesco-Sweetwater and Elwood areas of Mullica, and along Ocean Heights
Avenue in Egg Harbor Township.
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