93-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news updates with Kathy Romano.

And it is Monday, March 15th.

Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning in the news this morning.

Cruise in Ocean County, New Jersey, are working to contain a massive forest fire that has exceeded 170 acres, damaged nearby structures, and seriously injured

a firefighter on Sunday. Officials say the call came in for the brush fire in Lakewood,

New Jersey, around 1 o'clock near Airport Road and Cedar Bridge Avenue. The extremely

windy conditions spread the fire into the areas of Brick Township.

The fire is more than 50% contained.

Officials confirmed late Sunday night.

More than 100 residents in the immediate area had to evacuate a nearby homes and commercial building suffered damage.

According to the Point Pleasant Fire Department, the fire damage multiple structures near the Lakewood Industrial Complex in Brick Township.

The Brick Township Mayor confirmed that 29 homes were damaged in the area.

Three out of the 29 are uninhabitable.

A firefighter with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service sustained injuries Sunday, the firefighter is

currently listed in critical condition at an area hospital.

It's kind of wild because I got an alert mentioning.

Yeah.

And I'm like, I'm in Mount Airy, but I guess anyone that could conceivably be traveling through that area? Yeah, so it's the Garden State Parkway between exits 83 and 90, and they were closed for several hours due to the fire. The roadway has since reopened, according to the Ocean County Sheriff's Office. However, the westbound lane of Route 70 from Cedarbridge Avenue to the Garden State Parkway will remain closed.

Cruise from the surrounding area worked through the night to contain the brush fire.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service put stage three fire restrictions in place, which prohibits

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