Smell of smoke

is something burning?  

We smell it, too. Assuming it’s a nearby smoldering firepit. 

I smell wood burning - I'm by Clinton School

There's a big forest fire in Burlington County. Far away, but perhaps it's big enough for the winds to carry the smell up here.

Pine Barrens

https://www.nj.com/burlington/2019/03/fire-rips-through-state-forest-in-south-jersey.html

wow. Thanks for the information. I smelled it in several parts of town so was wondering what was up. Thanks

It's incredible that the smoke particles have been carried this far and we can smell them. I imagine this is what California is like when it has forest fires. 

Smelled it in the house this morning.  Thank you so much for the heads up.

I found this satellite image this morning. Like Cramer said it's amazing something so far away can be detected here.

Rain should be falling soon, hopefully it's enough to put out the fire. It's a big fire.

Remarkable. Forest fires aren’t necessarily a bad thing. Am selfishly happy to hear it wasn’t a neighbor’s home, which I assumed it was given the strength of the smell.

cramer said:
It's incredible that the smoke particles have been carried this far and we can smell them. I imagine this is what California is like when it has forest fires. 

 I've been on the west coast when you can see and smell smoke from fires hundreds of miles away.  it's pretty amazing.

Unreal! I was jumping to the conclusion that one of my neighbors had a whale of a barbecue. Couldn't believe that my room smelled of smoke as I had opened a couple of windows to enjoy the spring air.

The forest communities are strongly influenced by fire, varying from dwarf pine forests less than 4 feet (120 cm) tall where fires are frequent, to pine forests, to oak forests where fires are rare. Dark swamps of Atlantic white cedar grow along the waterways.

Forest fires play an important role in regulating the growth of plants in the Pine Barrens. Frequent light fires tend to reduce the amount of undergrowth and promote the growth of mature trees. Forest fires have contributed to the dominance of pitch pine in the Pine Barrens. They can resist and recover quickly from fire by resprouting directly through their bark (something very unusual for pines). Their serotinous pine cones open only after having been heated by a fire. The prevalence of forest fire allows the pitch pines to dominate over oaks, which by comparison are usually killed outright by a moderate or intense fire. High air temperatures and dry plant undergrowth contribute to the intensity of the fire. While severe fires are uncommon, severe fires at fairly frequent intervals can eliminate species that do not bear seed at an early age. Frequent killing fires keep an area covered with small sprouts.

Efforts to battle forest fire attract debate over how to best preserve the Pine Barrens. While fires constitute a danger to property and inhabitants, preservationists argue that eliminating forest fires would cause the Pine Barrens to become dominated by oak trees. A few areas which had previously consisted of scrub and pitch pine have become dominated by oak trees because of intervention after settlement to reduce the frequency of forest fires.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Barrens_(New_Jersey)

One year we were in the Montana/Wyoming area and the sky was full of smoky haze from fires in California.

cramer said:
It's incredible that the smoke particles have been carried this far and we can smell them. I imagine this is what California is like when it has forest fires. 

 Imagine this times 100.  They were closing roads where my Dad lives last year because of low visibility and he is hundreds of miles from the actual fires.