Monmouth County has lower wildfire risk than NJ's Pinelands region but still requires brush clearance under municipal property maintenance codes. The NJ Forest Fire Service monitors the western and southern Monmouth wooded areas (Allaire State Park vicinity, Manalapan, Millstone) where spring fire danger peaks March through May. The county's Brookdale Community College campus and wooded interior towns follow Division B Forest Fire Service protocols.
Monmouth County is not within the Pinelands National Reserve, but its western interior towns — Manalapan, Millstone, Upper Freehold, Howell, Jackson (Ocean County border), and Allaire State Park — contain pitch pine and oak forest with elevated spring wildfire risk. NJ Forest Fire Service Division B covers Monmouth County. Property owners must maintain vegetation and clear dead brush per each municipality's property maintenance code (most adopted the International Property Maintenance Code with NJ amendments). The NJ Wildfire Prevention Code (N.J.A.C. 7:2-1 et seq.) applies to state forestlands and wildfire hazard zones. Monmouth's coastal municipalities (Asbury Park, Long Branch, Sea Bright) face less brush fire risk but still enforce grass, weed, and accumulated yard waste rules. Open burning is prohibited under N.J.A.C. 7:27-2 countywide in developed zones; recreational fires in approved containers may be allowed locally. Peak wildfire season is late March through mid-May before full leaf-out.
Local property maintenance violations in Monmouth towns: $100 to $500 initial; daily accrual. Municipal abatement with lien attached if owner fails to clear. NJ Forest Fire Service can issue citations in state-managed wildland zones. Negligent ignition: criminal reckless endangerment charges plus suppression cost recovery.
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See how North Middletown's brush clearance rules stack up against other locations.
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