Millville Fire Contained

Wind-fanned brush fires had consumed at least 550 acres Saturday and forced the evacuation of dozens of homes. By Sunday, the damage toll had risen above 700 acres but no homes were damaged or destroyed.

A wind-driven forest fire that burned more than 700 acres here and forced the evacuation of a nearby neighborhood continued to flare up in sporadic hot spots Sunday, but was kept from spreading, officials said. All evacuees were allowed to return home late Saturday. No injuries were reported, and officials said no homes or businesses were damaged. Helen Albert said the fire reached within a block of her home. She spent Saturday afternoon and evening in a nearby park with her two dogs after officials asked her to evacuate, returning Saturday night. "All night long it was terrible sleeping, because of the smoke," Albert said. "It was like pea soup." Albert, who had previously scheduled an appointment Monday to take out fire insurance, said she was worried about her house, which is under renovation. "I was frantic for my home," she said. "I`m 68 years of age. I don`t think I want to start all over." One neighbor, she said, loaded up a truck with antiques before evacuating. Albert said she took a few changes of clothes and food for her dogs. She said not everyone asked to evacuate chose to do so. "I was tempted to stay," she said. "Some of them didn`t leave, and that makes it hard on the fire people and the rescue people." Edward Geisler lives in neighboring Commercial Township and, while he could see ash and smoke from his home, he did not leave when emergency personnel advised it Saturday. He said most of his neighbors stayed as well. Geisler, 57, spent the day and most of the night monitoring newscasts and calling emergency personnel to ensure the fire hadn`t spread to his neighborhood. He said he had his car loaded with personal items that couldn`t be replaced just in case. Chosing what to pack wasn`t easy. "It`s funny because you don`t think totally clearly at that point," he said. Tom McGinnis, 48, also decided not to evacuate when officials advised him to leave. He lives in a wooded area in Commercial Township, and said he was worried the falling ash would ignite the foliage near his home. "I figured I was better off here with a hose than somewhere else," McGinnis said. Cumberland County spokesman Glenn Nickerson said more than two dozen people were sheltered at a nearby school until the evacuation order was lifted. Firefighters will "be working all day today and perhaps into the week with hot spots," Nickerson said. Elsewhere in New Jersey, residents of about 20 homes in Old Bridge also were evacuated Saturday as a blaze burned through some 160 acres of brush. That fire was extinguished Saturday and all the evacuees returned home. Some 150 firefighters battled the Millville fire Saturday. Nickerson said fewer worked Sunday, but five trucks and three plows were there "tending and making sure it didn`t flare up again." The fire was contained Sunday afternoon, and local roads closed overnight were reopened. Albert said the wind had died down, but the smell of smoke was thick in the air outside and in. "We`re going to smell this for a few days," she said. (Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights -Reserved.)

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Author: AP