Smoke from South Jersey forest fire wafts across the Philly area
Smoke from fires that had been raging in the Wharton State Forest near the old Atco Dragway evidently has wafted to the north and west.
The summer of 2023 in the Philadelphia region has been blessedly short of heat — but not smoke.
Canada has been exporting smoke into the region for weeks, but on Thursday some residents in Camden, Burlington, and Montgomery Counties were getting whiffs of the local variety.
Smoke from fires that had been raging since Sunday in the Wharton State Forest near the old Atco Dragway in Waterford Township, Camden County, evidently wafted to the north and west of the fire scene.
“That makes sense,” saiid Mike Lee, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, given that during the early-morning hours the region experienced light winds from the southeast, that later became more southerly.
Plus, he said, the atmosphere is in an ideal state for transporting smoke, since it has become more humid and is relative “stable.”
What the New Jersey Forecast Service has dubbed the “Dragway Wildfire” scorched 1,700 acres. It was declared 100% contained on Wednesday, said Vincent Grassi, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
However, smoke from the smoldering fires was lingering, Grassi added.
Light rain showers Thursday afternoon and evening were unlikely to have much effect on the smoke, said Alex Staarmann, Lee’s colleague in Mount Holly, but “a line of showers Friday morning will likely clear all that out.”
Staff writer Frank Kummer contributed to this article.