A large and smoky wildfire broke out on the Blue Mountain in Lehigh Township just before 2 p.m. Sunday.

The fire brought crews from close to 20 emergency response agencies and resulted in the shutdown of busy Route 248 in both directions between Lehigh Gap and Berlinsville.

By 6 p.m., most of the flames had been quelled. A light rain that began falling after 4 p.m. assisted efforts.

“The rain helped. We are in the mop-up phase now,” said Derrick Etter, a fire forester for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Bureau of Forestry.

The fire encompassed about 10 acres, he noted.

Etter remained on the scene late Sunday afternoon and said it was too soon to speculate on a cause.

“At this point, it’s under investigation,” he said.

The fire was reported at 1:53 p.m., when temperatures hovered near 70 degrees and skies were mostly sunny.

Within minutes, crews began arriving. Firefighters tackled the flames from the ground and from the sky. Some fought by foot, and others used UTVs to access flames on the rocky and steep slopes.

A helicopter contracted by Bureau of Forestry helicopter helped snuff the flames. It filled its large bucket with water from the nearby Lehigh River, and dropped it on the hot spots.

“The conditions have been so dry and it has been so windy,” said Barry Frey, fire police captain for the Lehigh Township Volunteer Fire Company in Cherryville, who oversaw fire police officers assisting with traffic control.

Making the fire difficult, he said, are the ever-changing wind conditions around the mountain.

“The winds are constantly switching direction,” he said.

Emergency response vehicles from three counties lined both lanes of a closed portion of Route 248. Others accessed the fire from the Appalachian Trail parking lot, just off Route 248.

Thick white smoke billowed from the mountain, attracting motorists’ curiosity.

Some parked their vehicles and walked across the bridge spanning the Lehigh River at Slatington. They snapped photos and filmed videos.

One person who crossed the bridge, however, wasn’t doing so for a closer look at the fire.

With a large pack on his back and sturdy boots on his feet, Mike Misiaszek said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail near Palmerton when he saw the smoke. To continue the trail, he would have to cross Route 248 and hit the parking area where firefighters were stationed.

“I guess I’ll be heading back to Palmerton for a beer and dinner,” he joked.

Misiaszek said the fire would set him back about a day. A section trail hiker, he had planned to hit Port Carbon within the next few days.