Man charged in New Jersey wildfire says he shouldn’t be held responsible

A New Jersey man charged with starting the massive Jones Road wildfire last month says he shouldn’t be held responsible for the blaze because others who were with him should have snuffed it out. 

Joseph Kling, 19, was charged with aggravated arson and arson on April 23 in connection to the blaze in Wareton that burned 15,300 acres as it spread through the southern Ocean County area, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said. 

Kling set wooden pallets on fire and left without the flames being fully extinguished, prosecutors said.

After a brief court appearance Monday, Kling told NBC Philadelphia he and his friends had a bonfire in a remote part of Ocean Township on April 21 — but he left early and tried to put out the fire before heading out.

“I was the first to leave after my buddy crashed his dirt bike,” Kling said, noting he left to take his friend to a hospital. 

When asked why he didn’t put the fire out before leaving he said, “There were other people there, and I tried.”

“I kicked dirt on it and everything. I had the flame almost out and, other people were there,” he said. About 16 others were there, he said.

On May 1, prosecutors announced a 17-year-old had also been charged with aggravated arson, arson and hindering apprehension. Kling was further charged with hindering apprehension after he and the other teen allegedly gave police false information, prosecutors said.

“At this juncture, we have yet to see any evidence that this bonfire, that he was allegedly involved in, even led to this wildfire,” Kling’s attorney, Joseph Compitello, said.

The area where authorities said the wildfire started from a bonfire has signs stating that fires are prohibited, NBC Philadelphia reported.

The fire was observed by emergency personnel on April 22 as coming from the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust’s Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area. The blaze was declared 100% contained on May 12.