Man Charged In 15.3K-Acre Jones Road Wildfire Planned To Blame Mexicans, Prosecutor Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A Waretown man charged in a forest fire that burned 15,300 acres in Ocean County left a pile of pallets fully engulfed in the hours before the wildfire was seen by fire wardens, and later planned to blame "Mexicans" for the blaze, authorities said Friday.

Joseph W. Kling, 19, will remain in jail through the weekend, after his detention hearing was adjourned again on Friday afternoon by Superior Court Judge Pamela M. Snyder for additional documents related to the detention decision to be filed and considered.

Kling was arrested April 23 and charged with aggravated arson and arson in the fire, which authorities say started when Kling doused wooden pallets with gasoline on fire in a pit in the woods off Jones Road in the Forked River Mountains reserve area, prosecutors have said.

A second person, a 17-year-old boy, was charged Thursday with aggravated arson, arson and hindering in the case. Prosecutors additionally charged Kling with hindering on Thursday.

The fire was 80 percent contained as of Thursday, according to Lacey Township police.

On Friday, Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Lenzi shared additional details of the case against Kling during the detention hearing.

According to investigators, on April 21 Kling picked up three friends in his pickup truck, one of whom had a dirt bike with him, then drove to Sonny's Recycling on Route 9 in Waretown, picked up several wooden pallets and drove into the woods. He put two of the pallets into a pit and lit them, and after a time the friend with the dirt bike, identified during the hearing by the initials J.M., decided to go for a ride.

After a bit Kling threw six more pallets onto the fire, according to investigators. In the meantime, J.M., the dirt bike rider, had crashed into a tree along Jones Road, Lenzi said, reading from the probable cause affidavit.

Two of the others who were with Kling went to aid J.M., and Waretown police were called to assist. One shared the location of the crash with Waretown police on his cell phone, Lenzi said. It was less than a football field away from the site where the fire started, investigators said.

In the meantime, Kling, too, heard about the crash and, according to investigators, threw the last two pallets on the fire and left, making no attempt to extinguish the fire, Lenzi said. One of the friends told authorities she could see the glow of the fire as Kling drove away, Lenzi said.

It was not clear during the detention hearing exactly what time the fire happened or what time the dirt bike crash happened, nor was it clear how much time elapsed between Kling's departure and the sighting of the fire at 9:45 a.m. on April 22.

Lenzi said Kling was one of two people Waretown police spoke with when they responded to the dirt bike crash on April 21. The fire was not mentioned at that time.

On April 22, as the fire roared through the forest, one of the others at the site, identified only as E.H., told a classmate via SnapChat "We caused the fire," Lenzi said.

In another text message chat, authorities learned that Kling and one of the others planned to tell authorities they had seen "Mexicans" in the area around the time of the fire.

It was that statement that appears to have prompted the hindering charge filed Thursday against Kling.

Lenzi argued that Kling should remain in the Ocean County Jail pending trial because of the way it endangered the community, forcing thousands of evacuations and threatening more than 3,900 structures.

No homes were lost in the fire; one business, Liberty Door and Awning, had its buildings destroyed.

"He gambled with the lives of the community when he left and knew he didn’t put it out," Lenzi said. He argued as well that pending charges against Kling of third-degree endangering an injured victim and two counts of simple assault in connection with a January incident raised questions about whether it was safe to release Kling.

Jim Compitello, Kling's attorney, argued Kling, who is a student at the Ocean County Vocational-Technical schools and weeks away from completing his studies, should be released to await trial because all of his ties are to Ocean County.

He said the aggravated arson charge was a reflection of the fear and emotion stirred by the wildfire in the community.

"All we have is an individual who is alleged to have brought pallets and set them on fire," Compitello said. "There is no proof that he had an intention to set fire to the forest."

The detention hearing is scheduled to resume at 11 a.m. on Monday, Snyder said.

Previous reporting:

• 2nd Person Charged In 15.3K-Acre Wildfire Still Burning In South Jersey
  
• Detention Hearing Delayed For Man Accused Of Arson In Massive NJ Wildfire
  
• Smoke Conditions From Ocean County Fire To Linger: Here's Why
• Waretown Man Accused Of Starting Jones Road Fire That Burned 15K Acres
• 12K Acre Wildfire Could Grow To NJ's Largest In 20 Years, Officials Say
• 10 Largest Wildfires In New Jersey's History: See Where They Burned, When
• Oyster Creek Owner Clarifies Plant Status Amid Wildfire In Lacey
• Stop Flying Drones Over NJ Wildfire, Fire Chief Says
• Support Surges For Responders Amid Jones Road Wildfire In NJ
• NJ Wildfire: Pictures, Videos Depict Damage As Fire Rages
• NJ Wildfire: New Map Shows Blaze Perimeter As 13K Acres Burn