PALMERTON, Pa. — It's a different sight looking at a section of the Blue Mountain near Palmerton after the thick white smoke that once filled the sky from a large wildfire has now settled.
Officials with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources say the fire spanned 577 acres and is 57% contained.
"We stopped the forward spread of the fire. There is no danger of the fire leaving its footprint. Where it is at, it will not move anymore, there is no open flames. We are working to make sure everything is mopped up," said Todd Breininger with the DCNR Incident Management Team.
Breininger says that because of the fire's location, it wasn't safe for crews to tackle it directly. So, they had to create a path.
"So we had to build a bit of a bigger box with bulldozers and other firing operations that we use to control the fire. And the location was very hard to control and keep it small. We built the box and tried to keep it in the box that we had built," explained Breininger.
The fire on the mountain sparked Saturday afternoon. DNCR officials say the incident response team and area fire departments faced many challenges.
"This is a really dry time. We have never seen it like this, so it takes a lot to put the fire out. It can burn deep down to the duff layer and the rocky mountain does not help anything. It's hard digging with all of the rock that is on the mountain," said Breininger.
While Newswatch 16 was at the command post in Lehigh Township, an emergency call came in for another fire nearby. Crews say that as dry as these conditions are, they fear more fires will pop up if people don't obey burn bans.
"I can't emphasize enough for people to not do any type of burning. Some counties do have burn bans, and for those who don't, you still shouldn't burn. This is a very dry time of year. The fire will spread, and they are very hard to get under control," explained Breininger.
Officials tell Newswatch 16 they are grateful for the community's generosity in providing donations to the first responders, but they say they are no longer accepting donations.
Note: The video below is from November 4, 2024.