A helicopter of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources refills a bucket of water at Mauch Chunk Lake. The chopper was brought in to fight a fast-moving brush fire in the Hacklebernie section of Jim Thorpe.

The fire broke out shortly before 3 p.m. on the 1300 block of Center Avenue, near the Switchback Railroad Trail.

For the third day this week the National Weather Service is cautioning residents about the high fire risk. A combination of low relative humidity, westerly breezes, and dry fine fuels will lead to an elevated risk for fire spread with any potential fire starts Thursday afternoon and evening.

Minimum relative humidity values this afternoon will range from 22 to 26% across the region. Winds will be somewhat lighter and not as gusty as the past couple of days. However, this afternoon into early evening west winds will still be sustained 8 to 12 mph, and a brief gust to 20 mph cannot be ruled out. Fine

fuels in the form of dry or dead vegetation will be quite dry as well, and conducive to fire starts and fairly quick fire spread.

This is particularly true in areas that have not received hardly any rainfall in the last 10 days, across much of Pennsylvania to northern and central New Jersey.