A man set a bonfire using wooden pallets in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens and left them without fully extinguishing the blaze, sparking a quick-moving wildfire with smoke affecting air quality in the New York City area, authorities said Thursday.

Authorities arrested Joseph Kling, 19, of Waretown, New Jersey, and charged him with arson and aggravated arson in the fire that’s still burning in southern New Jersey. The wildfire was described as starting with “an improperly extinguished bonfire.”

Judge James Gluck told Kling during a brief court appearance Thursday the state sought to have him detained pending trial and he wouldn’t be released. Kling spoke briefly, only to clarify that his next court appearance was set for Tuesday.

“Thank you. Have a good day,” he said when the judge dismissed him.

A public defender representing Kling during the hearing told the judge she had “nothing further” when he asked.

Emails from the public defender’s office said Thursday it could not comment on a pending case so early in the process. A voice message was left at a possible phone number for Kling.

Authorities first spotted the blaze Tuesday morning from a fire tower when a smoke column appeared amid the pines. Law enforcement said they used a GPS to plot the origin of the fire and determined the cause was a bonfire that hadn’t been put out.

Though large tracts of the Pine Barrens are uninhabited, New Jersey is the nation’s most densely populated state and officials have warned the fire could threaten developments nearby. The fire had grown to more than 23.8 square miles on Thursday, approaching what officials believe to have been the largest wildfire in the state in the last two decades.

Authorities had said there were no injuries or deaths in the fire, but a commercial building and some vehicles were destroyed. About 5,000 people had been evacuated but were permitted to return home on Wednesday, officials said.