Mt. Tammany on fire — 70 acres burn along Delaware Water Gap

Flames from a wildfire along the Delaware Water Gap could be seen from Route 80 on Sunday, and the blaze continued burning into Monday morning.

The fire in Worthington State Forest and the New Jersey side of the Water Gap — along the Red Dot and Blue Blazed trails of Mt. Tammany — had consumed about 70 acres as of Sunday night, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service's Section A3 Warden Association.

Hikers on the trails in the area taking advantage of the nice weather on Sunday were able safely hike off the mountain, according to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area's Facebook page.

Smoke advisories put in place Sunday on and around Route 80 went back into effect Monday morning.

Firefighters dropped buckets of water during the afternoon Sunday, trying to contain the flames, according to the Forest Fire Service.

National Park Service spokeswoman Kathleen Sandt told the New Jersey Herald that the aircraft had to stop operating after sundown for safety reasons.

Volunteer firefighters were filling up backpack tanks of water and carrying them to the top of the 1,526-foot Mount Tammany, Sandt said.

Incident Commander Eric Weber told WFMZ-TV that the ground crews operating at night were contending with difficult terrain.

"It's pretty steep and rugged," Weber said. “It's probably the steepest terrain in the entire State of New Jersey.”

The crews were using an existing trail as a fire break, Weber told the station.

Fire on on Mt.Tammany in Worthington State Park (Section A3 District Warden's Association)

Pictures and video on social media showed a wall of flames not far from Interstate 80, which winds through the water gap and was backed up in both directions.

The fire broke out on a sunny February day that saw temperatures in the mid-50s, news outlets reported. The cause of the fire wasn't clear Sunday night.

The fire was still burning as of 7:20 a.m., LeHighValleyLive.com reported. It cited a Park Service spokeswoman saying a news briefing was planned for 8:30 a.m.

Contact Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.