A couple of points:
There's a good conversation to be had around prescribed burns, especially because a percentage of the brush in this area is invasive. But that takes planning, political will, competence, and funding. And at least 3 out of 4 of those things (you decide), are in short supply. I do fear an LA-like event is possible here, especially in areas like Morris County where it is simultaneously still heavily forested and heavily populated.
Adjacent to the point above - do any good data sets exist that track average winds over time? It just seems to me that there are more clear day extreme wind events than before, and last night/today is no exception.