Wind-Swept NJ Wildfire Damages 30 Homes

A brush fire in central New Jersey quickly grew into a major forest fire Sunday afternoon, and one firefighter suffered critical injuries trying to contain the blaze.

According to NJ.com, the fire was first reported at about 1 p.m. near Airport Road and Cedarbridge Ave. in Lakewood. With very little rainfall in the area since the beginning of March and high humidity, the wind-swept fire quickly spread to nearby structures and eventually jumped across the Garden State Parkway.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from the area during the fire, which damaged about 30 homes before firefighters contained the blaze at 170 acres.

At the height of the firefight, two helicopters and a plane were being used to assist with getting water on the fire. Footage posted to Twitter showed one of the choppers descending to pick up water from Lake Riviera:

"Thank you to all our Mutual Aid partners for your assistance on this day of days," Lakewood Fire Chief John Yahr said in an online post. "Thank you to the NJ state forest fire service for their quick response and effort to contain the wildfire."

This story will be updated when we learn more about the condition of the injured firefighter.