In order to aid its efforts in wildland fire suppression and fire protection, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service operates a system of 21 fire towers at locations throughout the state of New Jersey in the United States. From these fire towers, using an instrument called the Osborne Fire Finder, or an alidade, and topographical maps, trained fire observers are able to spot and triangulate the location of possible wildfires. After ascertaining the location, the observer will file a "smoke report" which will be investigated and appropriate action taken by a local firewarden.
Founded in 1906, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service is the largest firefighting department within New Jersey and is an agency within the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, a division of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. With 85 full-time professional firefighters (career civil service positions), and approximately 2,000 trained part-time on-call wildland firefighters throughout the state, its mission is to protect "life and property, as well as the state's natural resources, from wildfire." The agency covers a primary response area of 3,719,638 acres (1,505,284 ha) comprising 77% of the state's land area and administered by three regional divisions. This primary response area includes the state's rural and suburban areas, as well as its public state parks and forests. In 2014, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service responded to 1,063 wildfire events that destroyed 6,692 acres (2,708 ha). The service conducted controlled burns or prescribed burns on 15,326 acres (6,202 ha) statewide.