A second teenager is accused of sparking the massive wildfire in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens.
A 17 year-old boy was charged with aggravated arson and hindering apprehension Wednesday for helping to ignite the fire that has burned more than 15,000 acres, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. He is not being identified because he is a minor.
Police say the teen helped Joseph Kling, 19, set wooden pallets on fire and that he lied to police about how the fire started.
Kling was arrested last week and charged with aggravated arson. He now faces an additional charge of hindering apprehension.
New Jersey firefighters battled the fierce blaze in the southern part of the state that took days to contain, and was thought to be the largest wildfire in the Garden State in the last 20 years.
A column of smoke was first spotted from the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower in Barnegat Township on April 22, and the fire quickly spread out of control, forcing the evacuation of 5,000 residents, and cutting electricity to 25,000 Garden Staters.
The blaze burned 15,300 acres in Waretown and Lacey Township, destroyed a commercial building and prompted an air quality advisory in New Jersey, New York City, Long Island, and Westchester and Rockland counties.
The cause of the fire was determined to be an improperly extinguished bonfire.
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