Hardwick Township is one of 22 New Jersey municipalities—and the only one in Warren County—to receive a state grant to help reduce wildfire risks as the spring fire season approaches.
The state Department of Environmental Protection’s Forest Fire Service has awarded $4,300 to Hardwick as a Firewise Community.
“The Firewise Communities Program supports concrete actions to help save lives and raise awareness for both vigilance and action to reduce wildfire risk,” said Ed Potosnak, acting commissioner of the DEP. “The partnerships supported by this initiative are vital for ensuring the protection of lives and property in New Jersey’s most wildfire-prone areas.”
Grant funding can be used for a range of wildfire-prevention efforts, including maintaining firebreaks, thinning vegetation that can fuel fires, and conducting community outreach and education.
Communities may also use funds for “home-hardening” projects that reduce the risk of homes catching fire from embers or burning debris carried by wind.
Hardwick was the first town in New Jersey to become a Firewise community, said Bob Wolf of the Forest Fire Service and a resident of Hardwick.
“Basically, what this does, it allows residents to participate in protecting their own community,” Wolf said. “There are things we can do to reduce risks.”
The primary risk to homes during wildfires is not the blaze itself, but rather, the embers that can be carried great distances by the wind and the drafts created by the fire. Fire prevention efforts include the maintenance of fire breaks and reduction of fuel sources such as dead leaves in gutters and installing attic vents with 1/8-inch metal mesh screening. The National Fire Protection Association, the non-profit organization that administers the Firewise program, has a full list of actions residents can take to reduce wildfire risk.
Hardwick also has the distinction of being named the lightning capital of New Jersey in 2024.
The designation was awarded by Vaisala Ltd., a Finnish company that has been measuring and recording worldwide weather data for almost 90 years.
According to the 2024 report, Hardwick experienced 63 lighting occurrences per square kilometer. And as Warren County’s largest municipality by area—at 100.1 square kilometers, or 38.9 square miles—that means more than 6,000 lightning bolts last year.
So, is that a lot of lightning? Well, yes, for New Jersey. But in comparison to other parts of the United States, 63 occurrences per square kilometer pales in comparison.
In 2025, Shady Grove, Oklahoma, took the title of U.S. lightning capital, with 1,160 occurrences per square kilometer. And to the relief of Hardwick residents, for 2025, the township surrendered the lighting capital of New Jersey to North Plainfield.
But there’s always next year.
Joe brings decades of journalism experience to the Ridge View Echo, covering everything from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former National Law Journal editor and Columbia Law School press officer, he now enjoys telling community stories in Blairstown, where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two dachshunds.
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
- Joe Phalon, Contributing Writerhttps://ridgeviewecho.com/author/joe-phalon-contributing-writer/
