BRICK, NJ (AP) — New Jersey’s governor declared a drought warning Wednesday, and authorities revealed they have charged a young man with starting one of the many wildfires that have plagued the state in recent weeks.

The actions came amid the driest conditions in nearly 120 years, as numerous wildfires continue to burn in places that have not seen significant rain since August.

Governor Phil Murphy’s statement asked people to take voluntary conservation measures, such as taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet while brushing teeth and waiting until the dishwasher is full to run it.

But it stopped short of mandatory water-use restrictions that would be included in a drought emergency, the highest alert the government can impose.

New Jersey is not yet at the point where communities are in danger of running out of water to drink or fight fires. And the state wants to prevent things from getting to that point.

“Please take this seriously,” Murphy said. “We have a very dry winter ahead of us.”

Late Wednesday, police in the Philadelphia suburb of Evesham Township said they had charged a juvenile with intentionally setting a fire on Oct. 30 that burned less than a tenth of a square mile. The youth, whose age was not released, was arrested Nov. 7 and taken to a juvenile detention center on charges of aggravated arson and causing or risking extensive injury or damage.

That fire was separate from a further fire in Evesham which broke out on the day he was arrested. The second fire burned more than half a square mile in as many days, and authorities are investigating whether the two fires are related.

Dry conditions from coast to coast have contributed to the spread of wildfires.

California has made good progress against a large wildfire in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, that broke out a week ago and quickly exploded in size due to dry Santa Ana winds. The Mountain fire was 60% contained on Wednesday.

The 32-square-mile (83 square kilometers) fire forced thousands of residents to flee and destroyed more than 215 structures, mostly homes, and damaged at least 210.

Things were more difficult on the East Coast, where efforts to get a fire burning on the New Jersey-New York border virtually stalled overnight. It burned 2,283 acres (3.6 sq mi) in New Jersey’s Passaic County and 2,100 acres (3.3 sq mi) in New York’s Orange County.

Greg McLaughlin, a New Jersey Forest Fire Service administrator, said steep mountain terrain and high winds, along with few road access points, make it difficult to fight the fire from the ground. A water-dropping helicopter was also being used, but the usual array of bulldozers and plows was not effective on this fire.

This fire claimed the life of a New York State Parks employee who was helping firefighters over the weekend.

Dry conditions in New Jersey and New York are a growing concern, not only for firefighting efforts, but also for the continued availability of potable water.

Two major reservoirs in New Jersey were at 51 percent and 45 percent of capacity Wednesday, enough to keep faucets flowing but low enough to cause concern about what could happen with additional weeks or months of low rainfall. A river that is an additional source of drinking water was at 14% of normal.

September and October were the driest two-month periods ever recorded in New Jersey. Since August, the state has received 2 inches (5 cm) of rain when it should have received a foot (0.3 meters).

There was no significant precipitation in the foreseeable forecast, officials said.

The ground is also dry, McLaughlin added. This makes fires even more dangerous in that they can burn down through dry soil and root systems and last for months.

On a soil dryness scale where 800 is the highest possible score, New Jersey is at 748, meaning the soil is dry nearly 8 inches (20 centimeters) below the surface. That level has never been reached before, McLaughlin said.

A fire that started on July 4 in New Jersey’s Wharton State Forest by someone using illegal fireworks was long considered under control. But it has been smoldering underground for four months and could reignite above ground, McLaughlin said.

Conditions are also dry in New York, which issued a drought alert last week. Mayor Eric Adams, the mayor urged residents to take shorter showers, fix leaky faucets and otherwise conserve water.

Just 0.01 inches (0.02 centimeters) of rain fell last month in the city’s Central Park, where October normally brings about 4.4 inches (11.2 centimeters) of precipitation. New York says it was the driest October in 150 years.

Massachusetts declared a drought on Tuesday after more than a month of low rainfall.

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Associated Press writers Christopher Weber in Los Angeles and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire contributed to this report.