A 19-year-old man has been charged with arson for allegedly sparking the massive wildfire in the New Jersey Pine Barrens that has torched 15,000 acres, prosecutors said.
Joseph Kling, of Ocean Township, allegedly started a bonfire in the vast Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area with wooden pallets that exploded out of control when he did not properly put it out, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Kling was taken into custody at Ocean Township police headquarters and brought to the Ocean County Jail.
He appeared for an initial hearing Thursday afternoon via video conference, looking disheveled and wearing a green prison jumpsuit.
The judge said the state filed a motion to keep him locked up ahead of his trial, and that the detention hearing has been scheduled for April 29, when a superior court judge will determine if he should be released or remain behind bars.
Neither the Ocean County prosecutor nor Kling’s public defender, Giana Testa, had any questions for the judge, but Kling asked if the date of his next hearing fell on a Tuesday and what time it would be held.
The judge told him such proceedings usually kick off at 9 a.m., and Kling