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A fire in the Pinelands in Woodland Township has closed a portion of Route 72

(Google maps)

WOODLAND TOWNSHIP -- The wind is making it very difficult for firefighters from the N.J. Forest Fire Service to get control of a blaze that broke out this morning in the Pinelands and has closed Rt. 72.

Steve Holmes, assistant state fire warden, said the fire is located on the border of Ocean and Burglinton counties, but is currently within the Burlington County border by Route 72 and Savoy Boulevard.

"We have Route 72 closed down there and have police officers there directing traffic," Holmes said.

He said the forest fire service considers the blaze "a major fire."

"We believe this will be affecting over 100 acres," Holmes said. "The wind is making life very difficult. We're having a hard time getting control of the fire."

He said the fire was reported by one of the state aircraft that does shore monitoring. The pilot saw smoke and reported it between 7 and 8 a.m.

Holmes said the cause of the fire is currently unknown.

"We don't know," he said. "We're just concentrating on trying to get control of the fire and getting it out."

Smoke plume from Route 72 fire starting to show on KDIX Doppler radar. pic.twitter.com/tTA1TFJQto — Gary Szatkowski (@GarySzatkowski) June 12, 2016

Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.