As a major forest fire in Southern Ocean County continues to burn, authorities have charged a Waretown man with starting the blaze.

Joseph Kling, 19, was arrested and charged with aggravated arson and arson in connection with the Jones Road Wildfire.

“On April 22, 2025, at approximately 9:45 a.m., the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower located a column of smoke coming from the area of Jones Road and Bryant Road in Ocean Township. Upon arrival, emergency personnel observed a fire within the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust’s Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area, which is on the east side of Jones Road,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said in a joint statement. “As of April 24, 2025, the fire has burned approximately 15,000 acres in Waretown and Lacey Townships and has destroyed a commercial building.”

The fire is about 50% contained.

“A thorough and extensive investigation conducted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, New Jersey Forest Fire Service, Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office, and New Jersey State Fire Marshal’s Office, plotted the origin of the fire via Global Positioning System (GPS).

“The cause of the fire was determined to be incendiary by an improperly extinguished bonfire,” the statement added.

Authorities allege that a further investigation revealed that Kling was responsible for setting wooden pallets on fire – and then leaving the area without fully extinguishing the fire.

The statement continued, “Kling was taken into custody at Ocean Township (Waretown) Police Headquarters; he was thereafter transported to the Ocean County Jail, where he is presently lodged pending a detention hearing.”

An attorney for Kling was not immediately known.

WILDFIRE UPDATE: Jones Road Wildfire – Ocean & Lacey Townships, Ocean County

New Jersey Forest Fire Service continues to make progress containing a wildfire burning in Ocean & Lacey townships, Ocean County.

SIZE & CONTAINMENT
🔥 15,100 acres
🔥 50% contained pic.twitter.com/QZTcE32FFZ

— New Jersey Forest Fire Service (@njdepforestfire) April 24, 2025