A 19-year-old faces arson charges in connection to a southern New Jersey wildfire that has scorched at least 15,000 acres and prompted thousands of evacuations, officials said.

A 19-year-old was accused of lighting a bonfire and leaving before it was extinguished, sparking one of the largest blazes in the state in decades.

The Waretown man lit pallets on fire in the woods and failed to fully extinguish them before he left, authorities said.