N.J. Stat. Ann. § 13:9-20

No person shall, unless granted a permit by the department, set fire to or burn, or cause to be burned, any forest, but nothing in this section shall be interpreted to forbid any person from setting a back fire upon his own property to protect the same; but, if such permitted back fire be allowed to escape or does escape to adjoining property, the person setting such back fire, or causing it to be set, shall be subject to costs of extinguishment and all damage incurred upon the property of another. Any firewarden, however, shall have power to set any back fire. Any person maintaining a recreational fire or a permitted fire or a fire to burn any brush, grass, litter, undergrowth or other material shall keep and maintain a competent watch. All reasonable precautions must be taken to prevent its escape from control. No such fire shall be left until extinguished or certified by a firewarden to be safely contained.