Thousands of New Jersey residents have been evacuated as the Jones Road Wildfire along the East Coast grows to 12,000 acres, authorities said. It was 35% contained by Wednesday afternoon.

An uncontained wildfire has spread more than 8,500 acres in New Jersey, prompting evacuations in Ocean County areas, including Waretown and Barnegat.

A fast-moving wildfire was burning in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, but officials on Wednesday lifted earlier evacuation orders and reopened a stretch of a major highway that had been closed due to the blaze.