This Day in History: 1964-11-06
The extreme lack of rain resulted in Mahwah and Oakland completely banning hunting in their Townships. Ramsey joined then in banning all outside burning. The big fire, which had burned 500 acres of Mahwah woodlands near Deerhaven and Fred Wehren’s Sun Valley Farm has been patrolled, but there were still stubborn brush fires burning on the borders of Allendale, Saddle River and Waldwick. At the height of the Mahwah fire over 1,000 volunteers including Boy Scouts, students from the Immaculate Conception Seminary and local firemen worked under the direction of Bergen-Passaic Fire Warden Frank Scardo. It was believed that the fire had been started by a careless hunter getting an illegal jump at the hunting season.
Three woods fires were burning out of control in the back of Mahwah. The blazes were located from the area of old Halifax Road south toward Camp Yaw Paw. Several hundred men were attempting to keep the fires, made more dangerous by a still north wind, from sweeping across the Boy Scout Camp. About 500 acres of the area where the fires were burning belonged to Fred L. Wehren. He sent men and equipment into the area to cut fire breaks to stop the advance of the fire toward his house and his out-buildings, should the wind shift. There was considerable concern in Deerhaven that their homes might be at risk in cases the fire were to cross Bear Swamp Road. (Bristow)