Crews battling 2 wildfires in New Jersey, where conditions are driest in nearly 120 years

JACKSON, N.J. (AP) — A forest fire in a Philadelphia suburb was threatening homes Thursday in what officials called the driest conditions in nearly 120 years.

Another fire about an hour away in Jackson Township was less than half contained when the blaze broke out in Evesham, threatening 50 homes, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. It could not immediately give a size estimate for the Evesham blaze.

“This is the driest we've been in the agency's history,” said Jeremy Webber, a supervising fire warden with the Fire Service, which was established in 1906.

Lack of significant rainfall since August contributed to the dry conditions, which prompted the state to impose strict restrictions on outdoor fires.

Details about the Evesham fire were scarce Thursday morning, as the fire had only recently been reported. The fire service said the 50 threatened homes have not needed to be evacuated yet.

The fire in Jackson, in the central portion of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, had grown to less than half a square mile (1.2 square kilometers) and was 40% contained as of mid-morning Thursday, said Deale Carey, incident commander for the fire service.

He said conditions were so dry that new spot fires were continuously breaking out as wind-blown leaves fall onto burning or smoldering areas.

About 25 homes were evacuated near the Jackson fire, although residents were permitted to return Wednesday night.

Joann Bertone lives near that fire, and described animal and horse owners scrambling to arrange trailers to carry them to safety.

“It was extremely scary,” she said. “I was up all night. It was nerve-wracking.”

The causes of both fires remain under investigation.

Dry conditions have helped spark many wildfires in New Jersey in recent weeks. Since Nov. 1 the state has seen 102 forest or wildfires that burned less than a square mile (less than 2 square kilometers), the fire service said. The state has not seen significant rain in over a month, and that trend was expected to continue for at least the next few days.

Not even some promised rain Sunday night into Monday was expected to make much of a difference, Webber said.

“We're going to need inches of rain, not just one or two,” he said.

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This photo provided by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection firefighters respond to a forest fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Evesham, N.J. (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection via AP)

This photo provided by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection smoke fills the air from a forest fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Evesham, N.J. (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection via AP)

This photo provided by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection firefighters respond to a forest fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Evesham, N.J. (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection via AP)

This photo provided by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection smoke fills the air from a forest fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Evesham, N.J. (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection via AP)

This photo provided by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection smoke and fire fills the air from a forest fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Evesham, N.J. (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection via AP)

This photo provided by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection firefighters respond to a forest fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Evesham, N.J. (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection via AP)

This photo provided by NJ Department of Environmental Protection. a firefighter is silhouetted against a forest fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Evesham, N.J. (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection via AP)(NJ Department of Environmental Protection via AP)

Smoke from a forest fire rises above the trees in Evesham,N.J. on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, when firefighters said conditions were the driest in New Jersey in nearly 120 years. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory in his first public comment on the U.S. vote, and he praised the president-elect's courage during the July assassination attempt.

“His behavior at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man," Putin said at an international forum following a speech in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

"He manifested himself in the very correct way, bravely as a man,” he added.

Putin also said that what Trump has said “about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, deserves attention at least.”

The Kremlin earlier welcomed Trump’s claim that he could negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine “in 24 hours” but emphasized that it will wait for concrete policy steps.

″I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America,” Putin said in a question-and-answer session at the conference.

As to what he expects from a second Trump administration, Putin said, “I don’t know what will happen now. I have no idea.”

"For him, this is still his last presidential term. What he will do is his matter,” added Putin, who this year began a fifth term that will keep him in power until 2030 and could seek six more years in office after that.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday the Kremlin is not ruling out the possibility of contact between Putin and Trump before the inauguration, given that Trump “said he would call Putin before the inauguration.”

Peskov has emphasized that Moscow views the U.S. as an “unfriendly” country that is directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict. He dismissed arguments that Putin’s failure to reach out quickly to Trump could hurt future ties, saying that Moscow's relations with Washington already are at the “lowest point in history” and arguing that it will be up to the new U.S. leadership to change the situation.

The Kremlin’s cautious stand reflected its view of the U.S. vote as a choice between two unappealing possibilities. While Trump is known for his admiration of Putin, the Russian leader has repeatedly noted that during Trump’s first term, there were “so many restrictions and sanctions against Russia like no other president has ever introduced before him.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to speak at a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin points during a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he answers to a question during a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)