HELLFIRE TO PAY: Every wildfire tells a story. The recent Spring Ridge Wildfire was particularly telling in a firefighting vein. It disturbingly proved Route 72 is not the firefighting aid it had been for decades. For some reason, the NJ Department of Transportation has slacked off maintaining an adequate wildfire “no fuel” buffer zone on both sides of the much-traveled roadway. Flash fuel, in the form of grasses and pine needles, was there for fire’s taking.