As of 2:45 p.m. Saturday afternoon volunteer fire companies and emergency medical personnel from the Saucon Valley and beyond were responding to a reported brush fire at 1720 Erin Lane, which is off Springtown Hill Road in Lower Saucon Township.

Springtown Hill Road was reportedly closed between Hill Drive and Orchard Lane.

A clodu of smoke rises from the scene of a brush fire in the 1700 block of Erin Lane on Springtown Hill, Lower Saucon Township

A shaft of smoke could be seen rising from parts of Hellertown–including Union Cemetery–and the sound sirens was heard throughout the Saucon Valley, as fire crews from Se-Wy-Co, Dewey, Upper Saucon Township, Springtown, Southeastern, Steel City and Bethlehem Township raced to the scene of the wildfire.

Shortly before 3 p.m. a reader said fire personnel were requesting that Hellertown Police close the grist mill parking area to the public, so tanker trucks could be filled with water at the pond off Walnut Street.

The brush fire broke out on an unseasonably warm day, when the National Weather Service warned that low humidity and gusty winds would create ideal conditions for brush fires.

A Red Flag Warning is in effect for all of east central Pennsylvania through 8 p.m. Saturday, meaning critical fire weather conditions are expected.

“Any fires that develop may quickly get out of control and become difficult to contain,” the NWS warned in its statement.

There have been numerous brush fires in Lower Saucon Township in recent weeks, including one in the 2500 block of Apple Street in which a man died of natural causes as the fire burned grass near his home.