By Barbara A. Preston | Posted March 2, 2025 (Updated March 6, 2025)
On a blustery March 1 afternoon, three local fires ignited. A bush fire sparked along a Montgomery hiking trail that originates in Cherry Brook Preserve on Route 518 and runs along Bloomberg’s 16-acre solar panel field to the back side of Princeton Airport.
Montgomery firefighters determined an electrical box near the Bloomberg solar panel field malfunctioned, causing the fire. Approximately two acres were burned before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze.
Local firefighters extinguished the flames by 12:30 pm, which was important given that there was an elevated risk for the spread of wildfires in central New Jersey. The National Weather Service had issued the warning due to dry conditions combined with northwest winds of 25 mph and gusts up to 40 mph.
Montgomery and Rocky Hill firefighters after extinguishing a brush fire on a Montgomery Township hiking path by Cherry Brook Preserve. Photo by Barbara A. Preston.
These conditions supported the rapid spread of a forest fire in Hopewell on the same day. A downed power line started the wildfire on 75 acres off Poor Farm and Woosamonsa roads, which was only was 40 percent contained on March 1. The fire had spread to 293 acres by March 3. The NJ Forest Fire Service reported the Hopewell fire to be 100% contained by 8 am on Tuesday, March 4.
Montgomery High School graduate Julia Gopstein, who is now married and lives in Hopewell, took these photos from her backyard. Luckily, her property was not damaged.
The NJ Fire Service was at the Montgomery brush fire scene on March 1 along with firefighters from Montgomery Township Volunteer Fire Companies No. 1 and No. 2, Rocky Hill Fire Department, and Hopewell Fire Department. A Montgomery News reporter observed the scorched earth and firefighters by the solar panel field, and took the following photographs.
By Barbara A. Preston
Photo Caption: Montgomery Fire Companies No. 1 and No. 2 (Stations 46 and 45) and Rocky Hill Fire Company (Station 53) responding to the brush fire.
Also on March 1, Montgomery police and Montgomery Fire Company 2 responded to a brush fire on Sourland Hills Road. A resident had left a fire pit unattended the the dry, windy day, resulting in the fire spreading to the adjacent grass and trees. Firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the fire by 12:13 pm.
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