Firefighters battled blazes throughout the region Monday. See PHOTOS.
The National Weather Service at Mount Holly has issued a fire watch for today and could issue another red flag warning for a region plagued Monday by brush fires, including one that disrupted traffic on Interstate 78.
Meteorologist Kristin Kline said a red flag warning was in effect until 8 p.m. Monday. The warning for Northampton, Lehigh and Bucks counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey meant weather conditions were creating a higher probability for fires.
In the Interstate 78 brush fire, cars were backed up two miles before the Hellertown exit about 2:30 p.m. The fire appeared to be under control later in the afternoon. Brush fires also drew firefighters to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Frelinghuysen Township, Blairstown Township and southern Hunterdon County.
And structure fires Sunday into Monday created some havoc in Easton, Allentown and Moore Township.
Relative humidity hovered near 20 percent all day, and the area saw sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. The highest gust registered Monday morning at Lehigh Valley International Airport measured 48 mph, Kline said.
Weather conditions are expected to improve slightly today, when relative humidity is forecast to hover in the 30 to 35 percent range and winds will measure 15 to 20 mph with gusts upwards of 30 mph, Kline said. The National Weather Service will continue reviewing data in the early morning to determine whether it will issue another warning today, she said.
“We look at this data basically a few times a day,” Kline said.
Rainfall at LVIA measured 10.09 inches by this time last year compared with 5.34 inches through Monday, Kline said. A persistent pattern of high pressure over the area for the past few weeks and the jet stream to the north has pushed precipitation out of the area, and the weather service is not expecting any significant rain this week, she said.
Some fire officials said Monday was just an extension of what has already been a busy season for brush fires.
Blairstown Hose Company No. 1 Chief Michael Sullivan, whose department responded to a mulch fire Monday morning on Hope Road, said there have been several smaller incidents so far this year.
"We've had quite a few brush fires," he said. "Nothing big yet, knock on wood."
FLURRY OF FIRES
Structure and brush fires sprouted in the Lehigh Valley and New Jersey throughout Sunday and Monday. Here’s a look at some of the areas affected:
- A smoky fire torched a garage that housed an Easton man's auto mechanic supplies on Monday afternoon. Jason Thompson runs a private mechanic shop in the garage at 1139 Ferry St. The fire, which charred a nearby tree and fence, was brought under control in 20 minutes. Fire officials didn’t immediately have a cause.
- Nine adults and three children were displaced by an Allentown fire late Sunday night, fire officials said. The blaze began in or around a third-floor kitchen at 221 N. Fourth St., the middle building of a row of homes, fire officials said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, they said.
- A downed telephone wire ignited a 2-acre fire in Delaware Township on Monday morning, according to Delaware Township police. The fire consumed a wooded area on the first block of Sandy Ridge Road and was contained in about 20 minutes, police said.
- A small fire burned 2 acres Monday in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Strong winds caused a tree to fall on nearby power lines, creating the blaze in a wooded area between Creek Road and Bushkill Creek, according to Carla Beasley, the recreation area’s chief of interpretation, education and partnerships.
- A family of six was displaced by an early Monday morning fire on Hokendauqua Drive in Moore Township. The American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley was called at 4:39 a.m. to respond to a single-family house fire at 384 S. Hokendauqua Drive in the township, spokeswoman Janice Osborne said.