• Prosecutors addressed the issue about a video circulating on social media that allegedly shows the suspect at an outdoor gathering with a fire in the background.
• The wildfire burned acreage was put at 15,200 in the Pine Barrens, officials said.
• Court records show the suspect had a prior charge involving an open fire.

TOMS RIVER — A Waretown man has been charged with aggravated arson in connection with the wildfire that has spread throughout southern Ocean County, authorities said.

Joseph Kling, 19, was charged with aggravated arson and arson in connection with the wildfire that started in Waretown on Tuesday, according to law enforcement and state officials.

An improperly extinguished bonfire has been identified as the cause of a blaze that had burned 15,200 acres of Pine Barrens in southern Ocean County as of Thursday afternoon. An investigation determined that Kling set ablaze wooden pallets and then left the area before the fire was fully extinguished, said Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.

At an afternoon press conference, the issue was raised about a video circulating on social media, which purportedly shows someone who looks like the suspect being assaulted at a nighttime gathering of young people outdoors. A fire can be seen in the background. However, that video may have been taken months ago, Billhimer said.

“We’re in receipt of that video, we have that video, we’re going to track it down, but we do not believe that it was from the night before the fire, the night of the fire,” he said. “If you notice just from first blush, they’re wearing hoodies, it looks like it was a lot colder out.”

The High Tech Crime Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office is going to analyze the data from the recording in an effort to understand when it was recorded and that information will be released at a future date, the prosecutor said.

Investigative techniques into identifying Kling as the suspect included “technological advances” and “witness statements,” the prosecutor said.

Kling lives with his parents and the fire was not set deep in the woods, he said.

Nevertheless, there was much about the investigation Billhimer said he was not at liberty to discuss publicly at this point in time.

“It’s an ongoing investigation and we’re certainly open to charging individuals who we think are responsible for setting the fire,” Billhimer said. “Right now, at this time, we’re confident that Joseph Kling started the fire.”

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The charges are not the first against Kling related to a fire. Court records show Kling pleaded guilty in Lacey Municipal Court last month to having an open fire, a municipal ordinance violation. The offense took place on Jan. 17, according to the court records. Kling was assessed $533 in fines and penalties and placed on a payment plan, according to the records.

Kling also has charges of simple assault and endangering an injured victim pending against him, stemming from an incident in Lacey on Jan. 5, court records show.

“I’m not prepared to discuss a motive at this time, nor does the state have to prove what the motive is,” Billhimer said. “We can just confidently say that we can think the fire was set intentionally.”

Later, Billhimer was asked to clarify his remarks, specifically on the question as to whether Kling intended to start a wildfire in the Pinelands.

“I didn’t say he intentionally set it to be a wildfire, I said we’re confident that he intentionally set a fire, to be clear,” Billhimer said. “We know that he started the fire, we’re confident in that.”

At approximately 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, the Cedar Bridge Fire Tower located a column of smoke coming from the area of Jones Road and Bryant Road in Ocean Township, authorities said. There, emergency personnel saw a fire within the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust’s Forked River Mountains Wilderness Area, which is on the east side of Jones Road.

An investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Arson Squad, New Jersey Forest Fire Service, Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office and New Jersey State Fire Marshal’s Office plotted the origin of the fire via GPS, officials said.

Kling was taken into custody at Ocean Township Police Headquarters and then transferred to Ocean County Jail.

He made an initial appearance Thursday via video link from the jail before Judge James J. Gluck. Gluck, Ocean County’s presiding municipal court judge, ordered Kling held in jail to await a detention hearing on Tuesday. The hearing will determine if Kling will continue to be detained without bail to await trial.

Kling was represented at the brief proceeding by the Public Defender’s Office.

“The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender cannot comment on pending cases at this early stage of the legal process, other than to remind everyone that individuals are presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law,” said Cristina LiBassi, a spokeswoman for the office.

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