By 1908 , the Forest Fire Service comprised 99 township wardens , 120 district wardens — respectively paid $ 20 and $ 10 annually — and 81 unpaid railroad wardens to prevent fires along railroad right-of-ways . In 1911 , the Weeks Act passed in response to a deadly and costly 1910 fire season ( which included the Great Fire of 1910 and Baudette Fire of 1910 ) provided New Jersey sufficient funding to begin regular fire patrols to protect the watersheds of navigable streams . This was supplemented by the U.S. Postmaster General who ordered rural mail carriers to act as fire patrolmen in New Jersey and other states . Improvements in fire detection included the building of a system of fire observation towers , the first use of motor vehicles in fighting and patrolling efforts . Further expansion of fire protection was enabled by federal funds appropriated through the passage of the Clarke – McNary Act in 1924 . From 1933 to 1942 , during the Great Depression , the Civilian Conservation Corps ( CCC ) improved New Jersey 's system of state parks and forest for recreation and built firebreaks and fireroads within these tracts for fire prevention
Great Fire of 1910
Great Fire of 1910
New Jersey Forest Fire Service