As of Friday, Air Force officials said about 142 claims were still unsettled out of the 3,092 that were filed following the fire. The Air Force has paid about $2.6 million of the approximately $203 million worth of claims that were filed for property damage, dislocation, reimbursement and advanced payment.

According to U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Melinda Davis-Perritano, the large $197,769,040 million claim filed by Phoenix Pinelands Corp., a Princeton-based sand and gravel mining company that operates in Little Egg Harbor Township, is still under review.

"The statute of limitation is two years from the date of incident. The Air Force will adjudicate all claims in a timely manner from the date they are received, which could be up until May 2009," Davis-Perritano said in an e-mailed statement released through McGuire Air Force Base's public affairs office. "Naturally, certain claims will take longer to adjudicate, based upon the complexity of the legal liability issues, the substantiation of damages, and the settlement posture of the claimant or attorney."

In September, the Air Force said it had settled 2,519 of the 2,572 claims that were filed at that time, which means 520 additional claims have been filed since and that there are 89 more unsettled claims than there were six months ago.