Firefighters battling a 70-acre fire at Worthington State Forest—now considered about 30% contained as of Monday morning—are navigating some of the steepest terrain in New Jersey in an attempt to prevent the blaze from spreading on Mount Tammany along the Delaware River.

Nearly all of the fire is within the state park after it initially jumped over to a neighboring section of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on Sunday evening, officials said Monday.

Robert Kerschner, section warden for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, said the cause of the “Rock Face Fire" remains unknown. It started around 2:30 p.m. Sunday along Red Dot Trail.

“The terrain itself is rough,” Kerschner said. “It’s a pretty steep area that they’re working in.”

Low humidity and warmer temperatures in the region over the weekend put the area at a higher risk for wildfires, according to officials.

There are no structures in danger from the blaze and no injuries have been reported, Kerschner said. About 50 firefighters were working in three teams to contain the fire on Monday morning.

“We have three different groups working three different areas,” Kerschner said. “We have control lines at this point around the fire. It could flare up depending on wind conditions and other weather changes.”

The state Forest Fire Service used helicopters to pour water on the blaze Sunday and those aerial efforts were expected to resume today, Kerschner said.

Firefighters worked on containing the blaze until midnight despite challenges from the hilly terrain of 1,526-foot Mount Tammany. The firefighting efforts resumed this morning and access to water remains a challenge, Kerschner said. Crews were using an existing fire break to gain access to the area.

In addition to the Red Dot Trail, the Blue Dot Trail at the park is also closed, but Worthington State Forest remains open to visitors. The right lane of I-80 west was closed due to smoke from the fire on Monday morning, according to 511nj.org, the state Department of Transportation’s website.

“Smoke will likely be visible in the area until forecasted precipitation reaches the area tomorrow,” Larry Hajna, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement. “New Jersey Department of Transportation ‘Smoke in Area’ sign boards will remain in place until the smoke dissipates.”

Kerschner it is considered early in the season for forest fires, but he noted the lack of snowfall this winter.

“Our fires season starts around March 15,” Kerschner said. “So this is a little early for our spring fire season to be starting.”

While the cause remains unknown, Kerschner said it did not originate from a prescribed burns. There was one prescribed burn being conducted Sunday at Worthington State Forest, but it was in a campground area far from the Rock Face Fire, he said.

Forest fire officials will re-evaluate the status of the blaze this afternoon, and the fire won’t be considered completely out until the area gets half an inch of rain, which is expected within 24 hours, Kerschner said.

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